Maungdaw, Arakan State:  The high yielding variety of tea (HYV), known as BT-2, is being cultivated for the first time in vast areas of the Bandarban Hill Tract of Bangladesh, near Arakan State. So, it is also possible to grow this kind of tea in north Arakan because the weather and the soil are the same, said a schoolteacher from Arakan, knowledgeable about tea cultivation.   

Farmers of Bandarban in Bangladesh, who first started cultivations of the BT-2 tea two and a half years ago, are earning huge amounts of money by selling the tea.  Every month each farmer earns Taka 15,000 to 16,000 selling 1,200 kg tea. A total of 130 farmers have 650 hectors of land under tea cultivation and each farmer owns an average of 5 acres of land.  

It has been learned that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has made a dramatic u-turn in policy by issuing a new directive to villagers in Shan State (south). They have been  ordered  to stop growing jatropha curcas  plants and to create tea plantations, said an elder who has knowledge about agriculture.

The authorities could also take the initiative to cultivate the BT-2 variety of tea in north Arakan in the place of jatropha curcas, so that the local farmers could benefit.

The military regime started a massive program in 2005 to grow bio-fuel crops under orders from Senior General Than Shwe.  But, most of the bio-fuel crop plantations have failed. They implemented this project across the country without any research.
The elder said the people have no right to say anything. They just have to do what the authorities order. The authorities did not care about the people’s concerns.
Some villages in Shan State were ordered to provide 50 workers for the tea plantation project each day. People who fail to comply with the order must pay Kyat 5,000 fine each.  
This kind of tea plantation will not benefit local people, according to the elder. It will be a curse for the villagers.

Another local elder, who asked not to be named, said villagers who start tea plantations on their own may need the assistance of some local NGOs.

“If the junta wants the local people to develop tea plantations in north Arakan, they should take the initiative in such projects,” said a local businessman on condition of anonymity.

“We know that there were tea gardens in north Arakan during the British period,” said an elder  from Buthidaung Township.