Low prices, lack of buyers hit small tea growers in Panchagarh

About 2,000 small tea growers in Panchagarh are facing troubles as factory owners are rejecting a huge quantity of green leaves during purchase and have cut prices by 20 percent.

The farmers are being forced to dump their produce because of the factories' refusal to buy “improperly plucked or packaged” leaves. Farmers alleged that they were compelled to sell the leaves to the factory owners at a price lower than the rate earlier fixed by a panel of buyers, growers and local administrators for the current plucking season.

Taking advantage of the situation, two to three factories are rejecting up to 40 percent of the tea produce, saying those leaves had been improperly plucked.

Abu Hossain, a tea grower of Bhitargarh Prodhanpara in the northern district, has cultivated tea on 10 acres since 2011.

He shipped 1,000kg tea leaves to North Bengal Tea Factory where the buyer purchased those leaves at Tk 20 a kg, down more than 21 percent from the prices quoted in the beginning of the plucking season. The factory rejected 30 percent of his produce. 

Hossain dumped 2,000kg tea leaves on Thursday as the factories refused to purchase it.  Still, he has to continue plucking leaves in regular intervals to continue production. “If leaves are not plucked on time, the next round will be delayed as new leaves will arrive late,” Hossain said.

He earned Tk 12 lakh last year from crops harvested from his land, but this year he is worried about the fate of his produce.

In the beginning of the season, he thought he would earn a minimum of Tk 15 lakh. Now the prospects of higher income are far from bright.

There are six tea factories in the district. Five of them buy green leaves and turn them into tea before selling them through auction in Chittagong.

In the beginning of tea cultivation in the area during 2010-2013, the authorities of Salilon Tea Factory, one of the six factories, spurred local people into tea cultivation and made commitments to purchase the green leaves from them, said farmers.  

At present, at least four factories are running their operation with the leaves grown in their own estates and are purchasing an insignificant quantity of leaves from small farmers.

Sayed Ali, another farmer of Bhitargarh village, said he earned Tk 5 lakh from his tea garden spreading over four acres.

He said he will get Tk 8 lakh if he can sell his produce. But factories' reluctance to buy the produce could shatter his hope.

Tea plucking season normally starts in March, but November and December are the months when tea leaves are plucked in bulk. But Ali had to dump 8,000kg tea leaves worth Tk 1.6 lakh last week as the factories refused to purchase the produce.

Mozaharul Haque, a small tea farmer of Amarkhana village, said he brought 500kg tea leaves to Karatoya Tea Factory a few days ago, but the factory authorities agreed to pay him for 250kg, rejecting the rest of the leaves. 

Several other small tea farmers of Panchagarh Sadar also said they are also facing troubles in selling their produce.

In the current season, the factories are rejecting tea leaves citing different excuses and inflicting huge financial losses on growers, said the farmers.    

Abdus Samad, manager of Salilon Tea Factory, said the factory has the capacity to process 15,000-20,000 kg of tea leaves per day. “So, we have no way to buy extra leaves from growers,” he said. 

Officials at the Tea Board in Panchagarh said small growers have lost their interest due to the low prices. More than 2,049 hectares of land have been brought under tea cultivation in the district.

Of the area, the production is going on in full swing on 1,713 hectares, according to Sumon Sikdar, senior planning officer of the Tea Board in Panchagarh.

There are 25 tea estates, 17 medium tea gardens and about 2,000 small tea growers in the district. Last year, the district produced 25.21 lakh kg processed tea from 1.18 crore kg raw tea leaves. This year the production will be much higher than the previous season, Sikdar said.

There are only six tea factories in Panchagarh, which are not enough against the production of raw tea leaves, he said. 

“As a result, factory owners take advantage of lack of adequate tea factories. The farmers will get good prices if more tea factories are set up in the district,” Sikdar said.

The tea cultivation has created jobs for about 40,000 people, including a large number of women. There are about 16,000 hectares of land in the district which are suitable for tea plants.

Bangladesh's burgeoning tea industry dates back to the British colonial period when large scale tea plantation was introduced in Sylhet and Chittagong.

Till 2000, all tea estates were in greater Sylhet, Brahmanbaria, Chittagong and Rangamati.

However, considering the geographical proximity of Panchagarh to India's tea growing region of Darjeeling, some companies started small-scale tea plantation in the district only two decades ago. 

But the small farmers in the district would not be interested to get into tea plantation on a large scale if they do not get good prices for their produce, said a number of growers. 

Amal Krishna Mandal, deputy commissioner of Panchagarh, said the prime minister has already approved a plan to set up a tea factory in the district.