For more than a decade, farmer Amirul Islam of Birali Jot village in Tetulia upazila of Panchagarh has cultivated tea alongside conventional crops. Of the 20 bighas of land he owns, he grows tea on three bighas and uses the rest for rice and vegetables.
But tea requires more fertiliser than many conventional crops, and the government does not allocate subsidised fertiliser separately for small-scale tea cultivation. As a result, growers like Amirul are forced to use fertiliser allocated for rice and other crops in their tea gardens.
“We face tremendous difficulties getting fertiliser. This year, I needed two 50kg bags of urea and three bags of Triple Superphosphate (TSP) for my tea garden. After struggling a lot, I managed to get only 25kg of urea and one bag of TSP,” Amirul told Daily Waadaa.
Panchagarh, the country’s northernmost district, is known for its tea gardens on the plains. Unlike the traditional tea-growing areas in the hills of Sylhet and Chattogram, farmers here cultivate tea alongside rice, wheat, maize and vegetables, often on homestead land, highlands and agricultural plots.
With better management, I could produce up to 500kg more tea from this land.Lovely Aker, tea planter from Ranchandi village of Tetulia
Small-scale tea cultivation has expanded rapidly in the district over the past 15 years, with many farmers considering tea more profitable than sugarcane, rice and vegetables.
Besides Panchagarh, tea is also cultivated on plain land in the northern districts of Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur and Nilphamari.
However, as tea is administered under the Ministry of Commerce rather than treated as a conventional agricultural crop for fertiliser allocation, small-scale tea gardens do not receive a separate subsidised fertiliser allocation. Consequently, growers like Amirul rely on fertiliser allocated for rice and other crops to meet the needs of their tea plants.
The problem has gained renewed attention amid a fertiliser shortage in northern Bangladesh in recent months. Farmers, agriculture officials and officials involved in tea cultivation in the region say tea requires roughly two to three times more fertiliser than many other crops.
According to farmers and officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), tea growers pluck leaves every 40–45 days from February to November, allowing them to harvest around six times a year. Fertiliser is generally applied about 20–22 days after each round of plucking.
For every acre of tea plantation, growers require around 600kg of urea, 660kg of TSP or Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), and 450kg of Muriate of Potash (MOP) annually, according to DAE officials.
Data from the DAE and Bangladesh Tea Board show that more than 8,400 tea gardens across the five northern districts cover around 11,600 acres, up from 4,233 acres in 2015.
Of these, 12 are registered large tea gardens covering around 5,000 acres, while another 18 are unregistered large gardens. The remainder comprise registered and unregistered small-scale tea gardens.
Panchagarh alone accounts for around 85% of tea cultivation in the region.
While registered large gardens receive fertiliser allocations through the Tea Board, the remaining 6,600 acres of unregistered large gardens and small-scale tea gardens have no separate allocation, forcing them to depend on fertiliser designated for other crops.
Even the registered gardens, however, largely rely on fertiliser allocated for other crops, officials said, as bringing fertiliser from Chattogram and Sylhet involves additional transportation costs.
Based on estimates provided by agriculture officials, tea gardens in northern districts require an additional 6,960 tonnes of urea, 7,656 tonnes of TSP or DAP, and 5,220 tonnes of MOP each year. Farmers generally use whichever is easier to obtain between TSP and DAP in their tea gardens.
Md Abdul Matin, deputy director of the DAE in Panchagarh, said the institutional arrangement creates a problem for tea growers.
“As the tea industry falls under the Ministry of Commerce, we cannot secure a fertiliser allocation for tea cultivation. Since there is no subsidy on fertiliser specifically for tea, buying fertiliser through the Tea Board would cost much more. No one would be willing to buy it at such a high price,” he told Waadaa.
He said most small-scale tea growers also cultivate rice, vegetables and other crops.
“So when they seek fertiliser, we cannot refuse them. They use the fertiliser allocated for those crops in their tea gardens as well,” Matin said.
In Ranchandi village of Tetulia, farmer Zahir Uddin is preparing two bighas of land for tea cultivation. He previously grew vegetables there, but said tea leaves had fetched low prices in recent years, falling to as little as Tk10 per kilogram at one point.
“Now I am thinking of starting a tea garden because the price is higher now and everyone is moving towards tea,” he said.
Lovely Akter, from the same village, has cultivated tea on 30 decimals of land beside her home for the past eight years after clearing a bamboo grove.
“I harvested tea leaves last week and sold 500kg from my garden at Tk40 per kilogram,” she said.
The fertiliser shortage in the northern districts has added to growers’ concerns. With tea entering a peak production period, demand for fertiliser has also increased.
Abul Hossain of Aziznagar village in Tetulia has cultivated tea for nine years on 70 decimals of land beside his home.
“We are not getting fertiliser for tea. When we say we need it for tea, they do not want to give it. I could not apply fertiliser in this round because I could not get it,” he told Waadaa.
He estimates that his 70-decimal garden requires at least 18 bags of fertiliser annually.
“If we cannot apply fertiliser, we will not be able to harvest the leaves. Pesticide prices are also very high. If we cannot get fertiliser, our investment in the garden will turn into a loss,” he said.
DAE's Abdul Matin, however, said the department tries to support tea growers as much as possible.
“Tea growers are farmers, so we provide them with as much support as possible. The problem arises during the peak tea season, when other crops are not at their peak in the fields. As a result, the fertiliser allocation is also lower at that time, creating a management problem,” he said.
“We are trying to provide them with maximum possible support,” he added.
According to Bangladesh Tea Board data, the northern districts produced more than 20 million kilograms of tea in 2025, accounting for around 21% of the country’s total tea production. The Sylhet region accounted for around 68%, while the remaining 11% came from the Chattogram region.
Tea Board officials expect production in the northern region to increase further in the coming years.
Md Amir Hossain, acting officer of the Bangladesh Tea Board’s Panchagarh regional office, said the lack of a dedicated fertiliser allocation has repeatedly been raised with the authorities.
“Fertiliser is not allocated because tea is not considered an agricultural crop,” he told Waadaa.
Dr Mohammad Jahangir Alam, professor of Agribusiness and Marketing at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), said small-scale tea growers should have access to subsidised fertiliser.
“Tea contributes to the economy, so small growers should have access to fertiliser. Laws and regulations are made for people. If necessary, they should be amended,” he told Waadaa.
“There needs to be coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Commerce. A fertiliser allocation for these growers would also help reduce the overuse of fertiliser allocated for other crops,” he said.
Asked about the issue, DAE Director General Md Abdur Rahim said they are discussing how fertiliser could be allocated to these tea gardens.
“This may be incorporated into the system in the future,” he told Waadaa.
For thousands of small tea growers in northern Bangladesh, however, the question is not simply whether tea cultivation will expand further. It is whether the fertiliser distribution system will recognise a crop that has already become an increasingly important part of their livelihoods.
As Lovely said, “With better management, I could produce up to 500kg more from this land.”
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