Dr. Abdul Waheed, Director of National Tea and High-Value Crops Research Institute (NTHRI) support the idea,
that Pakistan should make a special area for tea planting. “All the countries that have grown tea like Kenya, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Brondi or other countries have fixed a special area for tea. In Kenya, they called the army to protect that land. Like in Turkey, they have a state reserved for only growing tea. Due to a large number of cultivation fields, they also get lots of revenue. We (Pakistan) also need machinery for tea cultivation.” Those countries and states have strict laws and no other crop other than tea is allowed to cultivate. “The biggest challenges that Pakistan tea industry faces is that the price of fresh tea leaves is too low compared with other countries,” Dr. Abdul Waheed further states “It takes around 6 to 7 years for tea trees to grow and start its yield. The farmers cannot wait for that long; they need earnings for their daily living. Secondly, our farmers have less amount of landholding. They just have 3 to 4 kanals of land. We should increase the price so that the farmers can happily process tea and supply it to our factories.” Also Read: Report: China to Send its Most Advanced Frigate Warship to Pakistan
