Panchagarh Correspondent:
In five districts of Rangpur division, including Panchagarh, there is acute shortage of urea and DEP fertilizer as there is no fertilizer allocated for the tea industry by the agriculture department. Due to which the farmers are not able to fertilize the garden at the right time during the full season of picking raw green leaves. Apart from this, Loafer and red spider diseases increase the nuisance of tea leaves in the plains of northern plains to protect the garden.
According to the 2025 data of Bangladesh Tea Board, Panchagarh office, the total number of small tea plantations in five districts including Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat among the eight districts of North Bengal Rangpur division is 8 thousand 401. Among them, 12 large registered tea gardens and 18 unregistered tea gardens.
Besides, there are 2 thousand 225 small scale registered tea gardens and 6 thousand 146 unregistered small scale tea gardens. The total amount of raw green tea leaves produced in these gardens is 9 crore 77 lakh 46 thousand 611 kg. A total of 2 crore 2 lakh 42 thousand 52 kg of prepared tea has been produced in 31 tea factories including 30 in Panchagarh and one in Thakurgaon from green raw leaves. Which is a percentage rate of 21.33 percent in national production. Compared to the previous year, the area of tea cultivation in the plains has increased by 73.2 acres and 58.1 lakh green leaves have been produced more.
Abdul Latif, a tea grower in Magura village of Tentulia Sadar, said that due to the adverse effects of weather and climate, various types of insects including mosquitoes, red spiders, currant bugs and loafers and excessive leaf and tip bud rot diseases have increased in the garden. Now the cost of production has doubled to sustain the plantation. But without getting fertilizers and pesticides at the right time, it is difficult to maintain the garden and produce good leaves.
When we went to the district and upazila agriculture office for the necessary fertilizers and pesticides, the concerned agricultural officer said, we do not have allotment of fertilizers and pesticides for the tea industry. The tea farmers are coming back desperate. Tea farmers Abdul Latif, Hafizur Rahman, Habibur Rahman of Tantulia and Shahjalal, Rafiq tea farmers of Panchagarh Sadar made the same complaint. These farmers said that the government collects tax and VAT from us properly. But they don’t understand our ability to understand our grief.
Panchagarh District Agriculture Extension Directorate, Deputy Director Agronomist Abdul Mateen said tea is an industrial and cash crop. Fertilizer is allocated by Ministry of Commerce or Ministry of Industry. The agriculture department only seeks the allocation of fertilizers required in the district for agricultural production. But tea cultivation requires a huge amount of fertilizer every round. Due to lack of allocation, tea farmers are not getting fertilizer. In this case, if the Bangladesh Tea Board takes necessary measures for the tea farmers in the northern region, the problems of the tea farmers will be reduced.
Bangladesh Tea Board, Panchagarh Regional Office Acting Officer Amir Hossain said, Bangladesh Tea Board allocates fertilizers to the factory owners through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the farmers in the tea plantations in Sylhet region and the tea farmers can get it from the factory at a fair price. But in the northern plains, small and medium tea farmers find it difficult to fertilize the process. Because all these tea farmers have not yet registered. Due to which the owners of tea factories in the northern region are not able to take fertilizer. However, we have sent a demand letter to the Ministry of Industry through the Ministry of Commerce.
The tea farmers of five districts of Rangpur division have drawn the urgent attention of the concerned District Commissioners and elected members of parliament demanding allocation of necessary fertilizers and pesticides.