Tea is our major export crop: Minister Adhikari

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 29: Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari has said that Nepali tea has been able to show its strong presence in the global market. 

Addressing a programme organised by the National Tea and Coffee Development Board in Lalitpur on Monday on the occasion of the 29th National Tea Day, Minister Adhikari said that despite various challenges, Nepali tea has remained a major export crop. 

This has been possible due to the collective efforts of tea farmers, workers, industrialists, entrepreneurs, cooperatives and the government, he added. 

Minister Adhikari said that Nepali tea has immense potential. “We are not only self-reliant in tea, but are also exporting to third countries, including India, and this will help reduce the country's trade deficit,” he said.

It has been heard that Nepali tea is still facing challenges for marketing, he said and directed the Board to move forward with a strategic plan to find solutions.

Minister Adhikari said that the ministry was ready to provide resources to the Board, which is leading the overall tea sector, and resolve policy problems. 

He said that programmes would be introduced to increase investment in tea, identify new markets, link tea with tourism, and attract youth and women entrepreneurs to tea in the coming fiscal year. 

At the programme, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr. Govinda Prasad Sharma expressed his commitment to facilitating to solve the problems seen in the tea sector in the coming days.