ROLE OF BANGLADESH TEA BOARD ON ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY OF BANGLADESH TEA

Since ancient times, tea has been acknowledged as a health-promoting beverage, and it is one of the most significant non-alcoholic beverages worldwide. In Bangladesh, tea cultivation was started first near the Chittagong Club in the 1840s and Malnicherra Tea Estate in Sylhet is the first tea estate in Bangladesh established in 1854. Tea industry of Bangladesh is one of the key sources of income for the national treasury, accounting for 1% of the nation's GDP. Bangladesh Tea Board is a statutory body, was formed for the development of the tea industry through the Tea Ordinance 1977, which is now functioning by the Tea Act, 2016. There are two institutions under Bangladesh Tea Board: Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) and Project Development Unit (PDU).  There are about 168 tea estates producing about 102.92 million kg of made tea in 2023, which is a record for the tea history of Bangladesh. However, due to local consumption and other considerations, Bangladesh tea is nearly extinct from traditional worldwide markets. In 1980, 30.98 million kg were exported, accounting for 77.37% of the entire production; by 2023, however, exports accounted for just 1.01% of total tea produced. We used to be a tea exporting country once, but now we import tea since our consumption of tea exceeds our production. A ‘Roadmap for Development: Bangladesh Tea Industry’ was initiated by Bangladesh Tea Board, including 11 action strategies for the development of the tea industry and to boost production of about 140 million kg by 2025, meeting both domestic consumption and resuming foreign tea exports. Currently, Bangladesh Tea Board is also focusing intensively on research about varietal improvement, modern planting techniques, integrated disease and pest management, modern tea manufacturing technologies, tea export strategies, etc., with proper extension of plantation in different regions of Bangladesh providing sufficient training as well as planting materials and machineries for enhancing productivity and quality of Bangladesh Tea.