Govinda Chettri

Jhapa, February 28,

In the course of two years, tea production in the country has increased by 1.559 million kilograms, informed the National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB).

According to a booklet published by NTCDB on BS 2060, total tea production in the fiscal year 2057-58 was 6.6388 million kilograms, while in fiscal year 2059-60, it was recorded at 8.198 million kilograms.

Ishu Shankar Shrestha, chief of NTCDB, Birtamod, however, is not satisfied with this increase. He said. "Although production of CTC tea in Jhapa is supposed to have

gone up to 10 million kilograms annually, we do not have a proof to substantiate the claim. We have to publish statistics according to the data provided by tea producers and tea estate owners."

The statistics provided by NTCDB shows that the total CTC tea production in fiscal year 2059-60 is 6.1 million kilograms, while production of orthodox tea is 1.298 million kilograms. Two years ago, production of CTC tea was 6.637 million kilograms while it was 1.124 million kilograms for orthodox tea. Shrestha said that the increase should have been quadrupled.

Tea is everywhere in Jhapa. Tea plantation covers around 8,000 hectares of land in the district and it is increasing. Some 210 small farmers have registered themselves in the NTCDB. Similarly, around 50 big tea estates like Giribandhu, New Giribandhu, Budhkaran, Mittal, Himalaya, Raj, Danfe, Kalika, Haldibari, Padam, Raj, Chandragadhi, Aroma, Kechana, Chakchaki, Kuwadidewi, Jhapa, Biratpokhari, Tokla, Barne and Bardish dot the Jhapa landscape. Tea farming is increasing every year and so is production.

Within the next one and half month, the first new tea leaves would be produced. Since the climate is quite good, tea experts believe that production of green tea leaves would increase. But, it could also bring in problems for tea farmers, as the district has very few green tea processing plants. Last year also, a great amount of green tealeaves had to be thrown away after they rotted away due to lack of timely processing.

There are 21 tea processing factories in Jhapa, namely — Kalika, Bansal, Budhkaran, Mittal, Danfe, New Giribandhu, Haldibari, Kuwadidewi, Nakalbanda, Shyam Sundar, Himalayan, Raj, Giribandhu, Tokla, Battabari, Aroma, Bajgade and Modern. These factories do not have sufficient processing power to handle tea production of the district. Tea farmers in the district face a double-edged problem. On one hand, factories are very few in number. On the other, the price green tealeaves fetch remains agonisingly low.