Pakistan’s reliance on costly tea imports grows as policymakers fail to prioritize and take advantage of domestic tea production.
The country ranks among the top tea-importing countries in the world, but due to low imports since last year, local tea prices have risen by Rs. 300-500 per kg in recent days, reported a national daily.
With approximately 250 containers stranded at ports since December, it has been learned that another 250 containers are scheduled to arrive in the near future. Tea availability may be hampered in the coming days, and scarcity of the most coveted drink may worsen during the holy month of Ramazan, which begins in the third week of March, according to the report.
Pakistan is the world’s largest tea importer, spending over $600 million on the commodity last year. Imports have recently dropped by a lack of forex reserves, which are currently sufficient for less than two weeks of imports. This small wallet has necessitated the need to generate funds or restrict their use, as the incumbent government did by imposing import curbs.
But it looks like there is no plan being developed to reduce reliance on food imports. Tea trail cultivation was successful in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but its area could not be grown commercially. According to a survey, Pakistan has approximately 158.000 acres of potential tea-planting land. Tea can be grown on approximately 180,000 acres if the forest area is included.
Tea cultivation thrives in areas such as Mansehra, Batagram, and Malakand. There are also more areas up to Swat Valley and beyond.
Overall, to entice farmers to cultivate tea, the government must provide incentives to growers for the first five to seven years of plantation. Farmers aren’t interested in the crop because the tea plantation process takes six to seven years. If farmers are encouraged to plant tea, they will benefit more than other competing crops because tea plants will continue to produce for 100 years with far higher returns.
