By Kokila Dhakal, Illam, Feb.2: The government has introduced project worth Rs. 170 million in order to ensure sustainability in the export of Nepali tea. According to the stakeholders, this is the biggest project initiated by the government relating to the promotion of home-grown agricultural products.

The National Tea and Coffee Board informed that the project would be in operation till April 2023 in the participation of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

Gaurab Luitel, project officer of the board, said, “The main objective of the project is to improve the quality of Nepali tea, to increase the export of organic and orthodox teas, to ensure sustainable improvement in the income of tea producers and to increase investment in tea production and generate employment opportunities.”

“The project also aims in branding Nepali teas, implementing trademarks, improve promotion and packaging of teas and host the home-grown teas in the new market,” Luitel added.

Likewise, Dr. Bishnu Kumar Bhattarai, executive director of the board said that the project would ease the pricing and commercialisation of Nepali tea via ‘traceability system’.

“There is no significant challenge other than lack of loyalty in the tea production sector. We will be able to establish Nepali tea as number one in the world market only if the farmers and industrialists remain loyal,” added Dr. Bhattarai.

He said that the traceability system software would aid in identifying the quality of tea.

Inaugurating the project on Monday, Province 1 State Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Ram Bahadur Rana said that market diversification of Nepali tea was the need of the hour. “It is about time for us to reconsider our habit of depending only on India’s market for export of Nepali tea. We must target the markets of third nations in the northern region now,” he said.

Stating that Province 1 was producing 99.2 per cent of the tea produced in Nepal, Rana said, “Now, we must focus on diversification and management of Nepali tea.”

According to the board, tea farming is being practiced in 14 districts including Illam, Jhapa, Panchthar, Dhankuta, and Terhathum.