With green tea from Trongsa finding its way to international shelves, tea production centres say demand is outpacing supply. Two green tea groups in Trongsa’s Dragteng Gewog are struggling to keep up.
People are busy harvesting tea leaves in these lush green gardens.
They do it twice a month, except during the winter months.
The leaves are then sold to tea processing units in Samchholing Khatoed and Samchholing Khamaed chiwogs.
Each group has at least 20 members. They produce five varieties of tea: Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, White Peony Tea, and Zang Ja.
According to the centres, the demand for their products has grown in recent years, boosted by advertisements on social media.
Besides a strong domestic market, many international buyers are also seeking Bhutanese tea.
Rinchen Lhamo, Chairman, Samchholing Green Tea House said, “We have several orders from the USA and Canada, and these are not small, they come in thousands of kilogrammes. Meeting such demand is difficult, especially as we also have to supply OGOP, the CSI market, and Bhutan Incense. This is why we are unable to fully meet the growing market demand, as we must cater to all these commitments.”
Dechen Pelden, Black Mountain Green Tea said, “I have an order from Canada for 50 kilogrammes of Suja, 30 kilogrammes of Oolong, and 20 kilogrammes of Black Tea. I have Suja in stock, but not the others. That’s why we are harvesting leaves today, and I plan to dispatch the order within a week after processing.”
However, she added that lengthy export procedures hamper their business.
Due to growing demand, members of the production centres plan to expand their tea gardens and increase their production capacity in the future.
Sonam Pema, a member of Samchholing Green Tea House said, “I have green tea on about one acre of land. We harvest tea leaves twice a month, and I earn around 100,000 ngultrum a year from them. While some young people are interested in going abroad, I have no such interest. I want to continue doing this work in the future.”
Sonam Tshomo, another member of Black Mountain Green Tea said, “I started planting green tea in 2021 and continued until 2023, during which I planted around 6,000 saplings. I began harvesting tea leaves last year and earned around Nu 40,000. So far, this year, I have earned around Nu 80,000. We still have another two months, and I expect to earn some more.”
The district administration has supplied more than 100,000 tea saplings to the two groups.
According to the chief district agriculture officer, the district administration is also planning to lease around 100 acres of state land for green tea cultivation.
There are plans to provide trainings and organise study tours in India. The chief district agriculture officer said necessary processing equipment will also be supplied to help diversify products in the future. He added that the Bhutan Foundation has agreed to fund these initiatives, estimated at around Nu 10 to 12 M.
As members scale up tea gardens and diversify their products, it is becoming a new avenue for rural income generation and export revenue, contributing to the country’s agricultural economy.
Changa Dorji, Trongsa
Edited by Tshering Zam
