Time to encourage tea cultivation in Hazara, Malakand divisions to bolster exports
SHINKYARI (APP): With dropping of temperature at picturesque Kaghan and Naran tourists resorts in Mansehra district, the demands of Shinkyari tea were increased owing to it’s unique taste, aroma and positive role in digestion of heavy food of people.
Enjoying the famous Shinkyari tea with ‘Egg Paratta” amid hide and seek between sun and clouds over Malka Parbath hills in east of Kaghan valley saying goodbye to the moonson season, Riaz Khan (57), an academician of Nowshera district was seemed relaxed after visiting his favourite tourists’ destination.
The aromatic taste of the locally grown Shinkyari tea has doubled the joy of Riaz’s family with children playing around them, the tourist said that he came to Kaghan on the request of family to celebrate the wedding anniversary of his lone son in its pleasant environment.
“My breakfast seems incomplete without Shinkyari black tea due to its better taste and aroma. Whenever, I came to Hazara, I spent few days at Kaghan-Naran to enjoy brown trout fish of River Kunhar while staying in the lap of snow-clad mountains of Malka Parbath ,” he said.
“Shinkyari tea was cost efficient than foreign brands and Govt patronage was required to support its farmers to increase its production in order to cut the import bill and become self sufficient in tea production,” he said.
Hazara and Malakand divisions were blessed with different ecological zones, salinity free lands and better climate conditions making it suitable for tea cultivation.
“Over 64,000 hectares land in Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Azad Kashmir were suitable for commercial tea cultivation due to its conducive environment conditions, salinity-free land and high rainfalls’ features,” said Dr Abdul Waheed, Director National Tea and High-Value Crop Research Institute (NTHRT), Shinkyari.
Talking to APP, he said the culture of drinking tea had made inroads in subcontinent during colonial era when the commodity was exported from China and was later cultivated in Pakistan.
Waheed said Initial work on tea cultivation was started in 1958 in Pakistan and later a project was launched through Pakistan Agriculture Research Institute in 1976 that led to establishment of (NTHRT) at Shinkyari Mansehra in 1986.
Later on, black tea processing unit was setup in 2001 and green tea factory in 2005 while a modern processing plant imported from Turkey was installed at the national institute spread on 50 acres.
Pakistan was heavily relaying on import of tea to meet consumers’ demands and had imported 2 ,58,000 tons black tea worth over $596 million and 300 tons green tea of $ 60 million in 2020-21, he added.
According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, tea imports during July-February 2021-22 was recorded at $423.466 million against the imports of $379.314 million during July-February 2020-21, showing a substantial increase of 11.64 percent.
In terms of quantity, the tea imports increased by 3.62 percent during the period under review as these went up from 171,469 metric tons in 2020 to 177,671 metric tons in 2021. On year-on-year basis, the tea imports increased by 59.56 percent during February 2022 as compared to the same month of last year.
The tea imports during February 2022 were recorded at $68.886 million against the imports of $43.172 million in February 2021.
Black tea consumption in Pakistan has been estimated at 1,72,911 tonnes which is expected to increase to 2,50,755 tonnes in 2027. This showed in next 10 years, tea consumption will increase by 77,844 tonnes.
Dr. Abdul Waheed said that the country’s tea import bill was likely to cross Rs200 billion mark in next few years if its consumption continued with such large scale by the ever growing population.
Dr Naveed Ahmed, research scientist of NTHRT said that per capita consumption of tea in Pakistan had been increased to 1.5 KG per year.
He said it was a lucurative business and upto Rs one million profit can be obtained from one acre production against Rs 0.2 million investment.
Alike olives, he said tea plants give production after five-year of its cultivation and any farmer having 50 to 100 acres land can start this business and reap its financial benefit for 120 years, adding 158,000 acres land were suitable for tea cultivation in Khyber Pakthunkhwa and 4,000 acres in Azad Kashmir.
All those areas with 100mm rainsfalls such as Mansehra, Swat and Batagram were suitable for its farming, he said adding nine different types of tea were being cultivated in Mansehra while about 350 acres land in Khwazakhela, Matta, Duraskhela and Koza Bandai were cultivated in Swat prior to 2008-09.
He said substantial investment was required to start its commercialisation. Out of 64,000 hectares potential, he said only 80 hectares land was under tea cultivation in KP and Azad Kashmir. “Normally, three to four hours were required for processing after plucking of tea leaves.”
Waheed said about 95 percent of people demands could be met by brining additional 22,000 hectare land under tea cultivation. “We have made tea cultivation on 50 acres land and 27 acres was achieved through private sector,” he said.
He said that 33 acres land in Shinkyari institute was reserved for tea gardens where research was being made on fruits, vegetable, medicinal herbs, olive and tea varieties besides establisment of 10 acres tea processing unit.
Equipped with experts and necessary equipment, the institute had the capacity to produce four million tea plants and process 10 tons of tea leaves per year, he said, adding the institute exported about six tons of tea to Japan and distributed one lakh plants among farmers.
He said the last year floods have also inflicted damage to tea crop in Hazara especially in Ogi, Siran, Bhattal, Shinkyari and the government patronage was needed to support the affected farmers.
Waheed said tea and olive plants should be declared as forestry so that they won’t be replaced by other tree species and farmers should be provided financial incentives to bolster its commercial cultivation.
He said the basic research work on tea has been completed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and emphasized upon encouraging farmers to go for its commercialization.
He said tea cultivation was a labour intensive business and growing tea over 64,000 hectares of land would not only overcome tea import bill but generate employment opportunities, besides reducing poverty and inflation.
The experts suggested that famers and landowners should be encouraged to grow tea crop by facilitating them through different incentives.
They said private sector companies should be engaged for experimentation and commercialisation of tea, however, the pace and quantum of commercialisation was slow. The commercialisation of tea was highly sustainable as it had social, economic and environmental benefits in the wake of CPEC.
They said time has come that government should inject financial resources in tea farming to bolster economy and save valuable foreign exchange.
