Panchagarh has emerged as the third largest tea producing zone in the country, next to Sylhet and Chittagong, as it has started exporting the crop to the foreign countries. Bangladesh earns around Tk 120 million by exporting tea leaf grown in 19 tea estates of the district. A team of the commerce ministry visited Panchagarh recently and conducted an experiment on the prospect tea plantation in the district. According to zonal tea office, there are about 150 small growers in the district who own only five acres of land each.
Besides, 12 small tea growers cultivate the crop on five to 20 acres of land here. The tea board had already registered about 100 small growers, 15 small holders and eight tea estates of the area. Statistics shows that about 167 acres of land is suitable for tea plantation in Panchagarh. Three renowned tea factories in the district are TTCL, KAZI Organic Tea and Korotoa.