Tea Sector Development : Workshop on tea cultivation and future prospect

A workshop on tea cultivation and future prospect was held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation on Wednesday.

The workshop aimed to develop tea cultivation, to expose advantages, disadvantages and challenges in tea cultivation and to draft tea cultivation Road Map to develop tea value chain. The meeting also discussed plans that could be carried out by the government, private and tea growers as well as to develop micro, small and medium enterprises through tea sector.

Kyaw Swe Lin ,Director General ,Department of Planning said " Not only the tea but also other crops need to be produced as the marketable high quality products. We also need to carry out market oriented drive. There are the tasks to be collaborated by all stake holders as well as individual organization. Depending on this, we will adopt future plans."

Dr. Ye Tint Tun, Director General ,Department of Agriculture said " There are progress in tea culture, tea consuming and tea processing products. And also there are the needs in these processes in accord with advanced technologies. After we discuss with tea growers and value-added producers for the whole value chains process, we will make plans for progress."

The cooperation of Ministry and private sector is very important in carrying out extension of tea cultivation areas, changing tea species, disseminating knowledge on cultivation methods, feeding inputs, soil maintenance, following post harvesting method and using more machines for tea sector development.

Lin Pyae Tun ,Secretary ,Myanmar Tea Producers and Exporters Association said " Currently, we have a plan to provide technical assistance for tea growers for sustainability, how to make value-added products for the producers, how to provide technique and share knowledge on hygienic food for consumers. We are also carrying out plans for connecting both local and foreign markets."

Through the workshop, the tea experts would discuss matters on cultivation of tea and processing method, quality control and technical support.