expansion of tea production and export from扩.DOCVIP

Thoughts on Economics Vol. 16, No. 3 4 Expansion of Tea Production and Export from Bangladesh :Some Policy Suggestion *S.M. Nazmus Sa’adat Shabbir Abstract : This paper presents a set of suggestions for raising production and export of tea from Bangladesh. The suggestions include modernisation of tea production, bringing new areas like Panchagarh and Chittagong under cultivation, production of organic and herbal tea. Some of these have already begun. This paper makes policy suggestion to advance these further. I. Introduction Tea is a regular export item of Bangladesh. But due to slow growth of production growing consumption and stiff competition from other tea exporting courtiers, tea export of the country has declined. Export of tea to different countries by Bangladesh witnessed substantial changes over time. In order to cope with such changes, it is necessary to look for new buyers and pursue an aggressive policy in the world tea market. This paper examines the present position and contains several suggestions for raising tea export. Domestic consumption of tea has steadily increased. This trend is likely to remain and even may gain momentum. In the face of rising domestic consumption, a stable level of tea export can be maintained only by a sustained increase in tea production. Various aspects of tea production and export have been dealt with, among others, by Khalid (1975), Majid (1991) and Sabur (2002). II. Objectives The paper aims at: Examination of the present status of production, domestic consumption and export of tea of the country; Exploration of the prospect of new areas for tea production; and Policy measures to increase production and export as well as quality improvement, and roles to be played by the government and national bodies. Lecturer in Economics, Asian University of Bangladesh, Dhaka. This paper is written on the basis of an author’s Ph.D. thesis under Rajshahi University. 68