A regional pattern of tea garden and tea production in Bangladesh

Abstract

Tea is a popular and easily available beverage in Bangladesh. It has been developed as an agro based industry over the last 160 years. In the past, it was an important cash crop and was an important source of foreign currency. However, since 1990s, tea export has been decreasing gradually, but overall production and per hector yield has been increasing. However, it has been observed that per hector yield in Bangladesh is still lower than India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and many other countries. In these circumstances, the study was conducted on tea industry of Bangladesh. The broad objective of the research is to study the tea industry in Bangladesh in its totality. The research finds out that the present scenario of tea industry with factors at garden level put influence on production. In this research, conceptual framework has been developed on the basis of study goals. The conceptual framework of industry cluster is elaborately described how the industry runs and supply chain described the functioning of the industry cluster. The concept of tea garden described about the structure of tea garden in Bangladesh. The production concept identified production related factors. The regional pattern identified the tea producing region and its physical and social characteristics. There are many variations of physical factors of three tea producing regions. Such as physiography, topography, rainfall, temperature etc. The tea garden of North-east and South-east region is situated in the hilly area. But the tea gardens of North-western region are situated in the plain land which is known as Himalayes piedmont plains. The topography of tea land of North-east and South-east region is tillah, high tillah and low flat. On the other hand, the topography of Northern region is plain but sandy with rocks and rubble underneath. The soil of Northern region is well drained and free from normal flood. Among the three regions North-east region produced highest quantity of tea. At the same time, per hector yield has been increased in Northern region. The study reveals that there are differences in the management of the large and small gardens. Such as soil fertility and PH, labourer availability, plant types, size, age, ratio, source, fertilizer and pesticides using status, shading, culture of plucking green leaf. On the other hand, the labourers who are working in the garden of North-east and South-east region were brought from different States of India. There are also differences between the traditional and new labourer. The study at labourer level focused on their culture, demography, economic life, benefits, working experience, involvement trend in garden, nature of employment, training, awareness about labourer law, communication with others and mobile phone using status. At consumer level, the study shows tea drinking habit and culture of consumers, trend of other beverages drink. The study also shows that the countrywide tea expenditure is about 35 4,040 million taka which plays a significant role in the tea economy.