Aug 8, 2021: Pursuing commercial tea plantations, the government of Pakistan has decided to cultivate tea on an area of about 25,000 acres in the next five years.

“This year we are going to approve a project where we are growing tea on an area of 25,000 acres; we are creating history; we plan to complete the proposed tea plantations over the next five years,” said Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Food Security Jamshed Iqbal Cheema during his visit to the National Tea and High-Value Crops Research Institute (NTHRI) at Shinkiari, Mansehra.

NTHRI, was established in 1986 on 50 acres of land in Shankiari on the recommendation of Chinese tea experts. NTHRI is playing an important role in promoting tea cultivation in the country.

Of the proposed 25,000 acres, 10,000 are government forests. There are 12,000 acres of private land where the forest department has planted forests, while 3,000 acres have been identified in Azad Kashmir.

During the next phase, the tea plantation will be expanded to arable land in the country as per the government’s plan.

According to Cheema, Pakistan has great potential for growing tea as 178,000 acres of tea can be grown in the country. “Pakistan can grow its own tea,” he said, adding that the country imports 30 million tonnes of tea each year from 15 different tea-producing countries.

Cheema said that Pakistan spends Rs 90 billion annually on importing tea. The import value of black tea is Rs 89 billion while Rs 1 billion goes to the import of green tea.

Inviting private tea companies to invest in the tea sector, Cheema said, “We are ready to address and resolve any issues regarding the investment of private companies.”

The government is giving private companies the opportunity to invest and promote the tea trade, which will also create thousands of jobs for locals. The Ministry of Food Security has allocated a budget of Rs 8.5 billion for high value crops and cluster development.

According to experts, China has played an important role in the promotion of tea in Pakistan from the very beginning.

Because of the potential for tea cultivation as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China has a major role to play in promoting tea plantation on a commercial scale through joint ventures and technical and financial assistance.

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