Local tea second best in the world taste-wise

Lack of investment increasing import bill for tea.


September 22, 2011

ISLAMABAD:


Pakistan has great potential to produce tea for local consumption and save billions of rupees it spends on tea imports, an official of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) told APP on Thursday.


Recent research suggests Pakistan’s tea is second-best in the world in terms of taste.

“At present, Pakistan is the second largest importer of tea after the United Kingdom and has been spending huge amounts on import bills,” he said.

He said proper management, capacity-building and investment could help the country become self-sufficient in the tea sector.

He said the country had the potential to export tea, adding that it was the responsibility of the private sector to make investments.

Pakistan imported 127,316 metric tons of black tea in 2010-11, costing $301 million. The import of green tea during this period was 3,322 metric tons, which cost the country $4.25 million.

Pakistan imported tea worth $105 million, $102 million, $98 million and $95 million in 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively.

The official said PARC had developed latest technology and processing units, besides identifying various areas for the production of tea, to reduce tea imports, as the per-capita tea consumption had become one kilogramme per annum.

He said PARC had helped farmers plant tea on 32 acres of land in Shankiari, 45 acres in Oagi, 32 acres in Balakot and 191 acres in Batagram. He added that tea had been planted on 21 acres and 28 acres in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and FATA, respectively.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2011.

COMMENTS (1)

GetRidOfFeudalPolitics | 12 years ago | Reply

Boy do I miss tea from back home.

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