https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

‘Darjeeling of Bihar’, Hope for A Struggling Tea Industry 

Indian Masterminds Stories

Flanked by West Bengal on one side and Nepal on the other, Kishanganj is the only tea producing district of Bihar. Despite being blessed with an ideal climate and a suitable topography for tea plant, it has not received much attention when it comes to tea production. While tea cultivation was first started here in a half hectare land in 1982, yet, for many years, no major development took place. 

However, in the last 10 years, the cultivable area of tea crop has increased from 7 to 8 thousand hectares and Kishanganj has become one of the major producers of tea in the country, and is now known as the ‘Darjeeling of Bihar’. 

Not only tea, the district is also paving way for the cultivation of various other cash crops that includes dragon fruit. In conversation with Indian Masterminds, DM of Kishanganj, Mr. Tushar Singla, gave more details about the ongoing agri projects. 

EDGE IN TRADING 

“Kishanganj district has a suitable location and appropriate weather conditions for growing cash crops like tea, dragon fruit, etc. Especially blocks like Thakurganj and Pothia have large areas covered under tea cultivation which has improved the living condition of thousands of farmers,” he said.

Not only the weather conditions, the district is also supported by close proximity to major trading corridors. There are around five thousand farmers who are directly involved in tea plantation. 

Tushar Singla, IAS

Whereas the cultivation of dragon fruit is still at nascent stage in the district. Currently, few farmers are involved in cultivation of this fruit but there is a huge scope for increasing its cultivable area. The dragon fruit farming started in 2014, when a farmer bought 500 saplings from Singapore. He started with 100 of these and his experiment was successful. Now, not only the dragon fruit farming has expanded to more than 12 hectares in the district but slowly the farmers of adjacent district like Purnea and Araria have also taken interest in it. 

“There is immense potential to further enhance the cultivation area of crops like these and livelihood opportunity for the people residing in the district,” said Mr. Singla.

MAJOR CHALLENGE 

About the challenges in convincing new farmers to take up tea and dragon fruit farming, he said that farming for a particular crop is an economic decision depending on backward and forward linkages. “If those are available smoothly, then half the job is done,” he added.

Since there are major tea growing areas nearby and a ready market, the farmers of Kishanganj district have adapted to these conditions and have taken up the cultivation of these crops at a large scale. However, there is more scope for enhancement of productivity and the cultivable area for such crops.

SUBSIDIES & ASSISTANCE

The Kishanganj administration is providing support and hand-holding the farmers. Backward linkage inputs like fertilizers, agricultural equipments, etc., are now being provided for expansion of the cultivable area. Also, the focus is on integrating the farmers with the packaging and marketing infrastructure.

In last 10 years, the cultivable area of tea crop has increased from 7 to 8 thousand hectares. Now efforts are being made to exponentially expand the tea area and make it double in 2-3 years with the required support from the agriculture department. “Subsidies are also being provided to the farmers, and so is assistance to sell their produce,” Mr. Singla added.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
DFCCIL: Pioneering Rail Safety
DFCCIL, IISc & Startup Join Hands for Indigenous Broken Rail Detection Technology
LBSNAA
After UPSC CSE 2024 Results, LBSNAA Issues Conduct & Social Media Advisory for New Civil Servants - Check All Details Here
IREDA logo 1
IREDA Launches Internal Review, Files EoW Complaint Against Gensol Engineering
Punjab_govt_resized
Punjab Govt Issues Guidelines, Timeline for General Transfers of Officers and Staff
IAS Officers Indian Administrative Services (IAS)
3 IAS Appointed to Key Roles: Amit Kumar as PS to Tribal Affairs Minister; Seema Jain Takes Addl Charge in Atomic Energy Commission
IRS Officers ndian revenue Services
CBI Arrests IRS Officer, Private Individual for Leaking Data Under Faceless Tax Scheme
HLL Lifecare
HLL Lifecare Unveils New Brand Identity for AMRIT Pharmacies, Marks 10 Years of Affordable Healthcare Mission
Titagarh Rail System
Titagarh Rail Systems & BHEL Inaugurate Vande Bharat Sleeper Train Production Line in West Bengal
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
HUDCO CMD Sanjay Kulshrshtha
HUDCO CMD Sanjay Kulshrshtha Sets A Goal Of Zero NPA, Rs 3 Lakh Crore Loan Book
WAVES 2025 (Ashutosh Mohile)
A Davos-Like Media & Entertainment Summit in Mumbai
Aditya Vikram Agarwal
The Shouts of Joy Were Real: Aditya’s UPSC Rank 9 Was a Family Celebration
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
WhatsApp Image 2025-04-25 at 16.19
IFS or Nothing: Why Shreya Tyagi Gave Up ITS, IDAS And IRS for Her Real Dream | Exclusive
From a curious young girl in Bahrain to an Indian Foreign Service officer, Shreya’s pursuit of diplomacy...
Hemant Mishra UPSC CSE 2024
From Bihar to UP’s SDM: How Hemant Mishra Cleared UPPCS Twice, BPSC, and Secured AIR 13 in UPSC
Hemant Mishra, a resilient Bihar native, cleared UPPCS twice, BPSC, and secured AIR 13 in UPSC CSE while...
Sanskriti Trivedy
AIR 17 Sanskriti Trivedy’s Final Shot at UPSC Hits the Bullseye
Despite already securing Rank 352 and joining IDAS, SanskritiTrivedy didn’t give up on her dream. In...
Social Media
Exam Student Aspirant
'Bramhastra' For Aspirants Appearing for UPSC Prelims Exam 2025, ICLS Officer Altap Shaikh Shares Final Month Strategy
Officer Shaikh's practical and focused suggestions come as a timely morale booster for thousands of candidates...
GozJlgrXYAAHoKv
Murals for Cleanliness: Thoothukudi District Launches Art-Inspired Sanitation Drive in Panchayats
Local artists add colour and messages to village walls, promoting hygiene and community pride
Himanshu Nagpal IAS
Varanasi's Beggar Rehabilitation Initiative Recognised by UIDAI, CDO Himanshu Nagpal Shares the News
Mr. Himanshu Nagpal is a 2019-batch IAS officer
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
DFCCIL: Pioneering Rail Safety
DFCCIL, IISc & Startup Join Hands for Indigenous Broken Rail Detection Technology
LBSNAA
After UPSC CSE 2024 Results, LBSNAA Issues Conduct & Social Media Advisory for New Civil Servants - Check All Details Here
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
HUDCO CMD Sanjay Kulshrshtha
WAVES 2025 (Ashutosh Mohile)
Aditya Vikram Agarwal
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT