The Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) has announced plans to introduce a new high-yielding tea variety to enhance the country’s tea production. Over the past few years, Bangladesh has relied on tea imports through private companies to meet the growing demand, surpassing domestic production. To address this issue and reduce imports, BTRI is conducting research on the BT-24 variety, which is expected to be released on National Tea Day this year. BTRI has a history of developing hybrid tea varieties, with BT-1 being the first released in 1966 and BT-23 in 2021.
In addition to working on high-yielding varieties, BTRI is also focusing on improving food-grade packaging for tea. Despite the need for imports, the consumption of tea in Bangladesh has been on the rise, and the country has continued to export tea, particularly green tea to Pakistan and black tea to Iran. Recently, a BTRI researcher mentioned plans to export 2,000 kg of Orthodox tea, a loose-leaf tea, to London due to its high demand abroad. The aim is to meet the increasing demand for tea domestically while also exploring export opportunities.
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