& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Bangladesh losing edge in tea exports

SHAHIDUL ISLAM, Chittagong
Bangladesh continues to lose edge in tea exports because of increasing domestic consumption that takes up around 90 percent of annual production, a reversal of a two-decade trend.
Once a global competitor to tea giants such as Kenya, India and Sri Lanka, the country saw the export volume coming down to 10 percent in recent years. Total domestic consumption is around 50 millionkilograms.
Industry insiders assume that Bangladesh will require tea imports in five to six years if the current pace of internal consumption continues.
The annual tea output remains static for the last 10 years -- between 53 and 56 million kg -- barring 2005 and 2008 when the figures were 60 million and 58 million kg respectively.
Around 56 million kg of tea is also this year's projected production.
Even in a period between 1985 and 1990, Bangladesh used to export up to 90 percent of its total tea and the importers include Pakistan. Afghanistan, former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
But domestic tea consumption has increased so much in the last five years and the country exports only five to six million kg. As a result, most previous importing countries lost interest in Bangladeshi tea, exports of which are now confined to Pakistan and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Other factors that contributed to the present tea sector scenario include low hectare-wise production, lack of development initiatives and replacement of cen-tury-old saplings. Some gardens in Moulvibazar and Sylhet region in recent times however showed a remarkable improvement in quality and raising perhectare production because of their adherence to pragmatic initiatives, according to the sector people.
Taking the current rate of domestic consumption into consideration, the figure in Bangladesh will stand at 500 gram after five to six years, meaning the country will need to import around 20 million kg of tea to meet internal demand.
Bangladesh is also lagging in hectarewise production of tea, compared to major tea producing and exporting countries such as Sri Lanka. India, China and Kenya, said Abu Taher, vice-chairman of Tea Traders Association of Bangladesh.
He said the local tea gardens on an average produce 1200 to 1250 kg per hectare, some a maximum of 2500 kg and a few selective ones 3000 kg and more. On the other hand, per hectare production ranges from 3000 to 3500 kg or more in Sri Lanka, India and Kenya.
Arif Rahman Shahin, senior executive of Purba Bang)a Brokers Ltd, observed that the country failed to make any great leap in hectare-wise production in the last 62 years since the 1947 partition.