A large number of the total 24 tea gardens in Habiganj have stopped cultivating tea while many others are now cultivating rubber instead of tea.

Lack of interest in investment, weak management and adverse weather condition are leading the forex earning crop to ruination, said tea officials and other sources.

The tea gardens in Habiganj are managed by the government, foreign companies and private owners.

The 24 gardens are at Rema, Nalua, Parkul, Laichand, Chandpur, Laskarpur, Satchhari, Amu, Chandichhara, Chaklapunji, Deundi and Sribari in Chunarughat upazila, Jagadishpur, Teliapara, Nayapara, Boikunthapur and Surma in Madhabpur upazila, Madhupur, Brindaban, Amtoli and Rashidpur in Bahubal upazila and

Imam and Bawani in Nabiganj upazila in the district.

According to sources in the district administration, about 34,494 hectares were leased for the gardens. However, tea is being cultivated on 18,402 hectares.

According to the government rules and agreement, the leased land must be used only for tea cultivation.

Tea cultivation is supposed to be expanded every year by 2.5 per cent on the total land. But the rule is being ignored by the lesses. On the contrary, rubber, paddy and other crops are being cultivated on the land meant for tea.

For example, Surma Tea Garden leased 4454.39 acres, but tea cultivation takes place only on2,134 acres.

Contacted, manager of the tea garden MA Kashem said, they employed 2,200 workers in place of 1,200. for the purpose But due to lack of proper investment and increased production

cost, tea cultivation was not increasing to their expectation.

At present, eight to nine lakh kilograms of tea are being produced which could easily be increased to more than 10 lakh kgs, he observed.

Deputy manager of Chandpur Tea Garden, Mr Azad, said they were cultivating rubber with approval from the authorities concerned and producing the item on its 47 hectares of land.

Similarly, many others were getting interested in rubber farming, sources said.

Rubber cultivation is going on in large scale in the district's Chakla, Laichan, Teliapara and Surma areas, they said.

Contacted, DrMoin Uddin Ahmed, deputy director of Bangladesh Tea Resource Institute, said they advised all the tea garden owners to stop rubber cultivation as it was against the policy and agreement.