Agartala: The orthodox tea produced in Tripura has succeeded in capturing markets in the Middle East and Europe, following sharp fall in demands for CTC (Crush-Tear-Curl) tea grown in the country, official sources said on Sunday.
Golakpur Tea Estate in North Tripura district has signed an agreement for exporting 10 MT of orthodox tea in the current financial year with an Iranian importer and has already exported 30,000 kg of processed tea leaves to Teheran this year, Deputy Director of Tea Development Corporation of Tripura, S Das said.
“We have already sent a consignment of 30,000 kg of orthodox tea to Iran and 12,000 kg of leaves were almost ready for export to the country,” General Manager of the Tea estate, J C Das said. Manuvalley Tea Estate of the of Unakoti district had exported green tea leaves to Britain and some Asian countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan this year. “The price of CTC tea is dwindling drastically in the auction markets after Kenya registered bumper crops recently and for that Golakpur Tea estate is focussing on production of orthodox tea instead of CTC tea,” Das said.
Meanwhile, Tripura State Industries and Commerce Minister Jiten Choudhury said Ludhua Tea Estate in South Tripura had installed a new broiler machine a few years ago for processing green tea after receiving good response from international markets. “Ludhua tea is now a brand in Italy and Germany,” Choudhury said. Tea plantation in Tripura started way back in 1920. The state now has 58 tea gardens where 7.75 million kg of tea is grown every year over 13,372 hectares, official sources said. (PTI)