KIGALI, Sept 14: Rwanda’s tea production rose by 21 per cent to 12.9 million kg in the first seven months of 2007 due to good rains, the Tea Board said on Friday.The tiny central African country recorded 10.7 million kg of tea in the first seven months of 2006.

We have had no harsh weather this year... The rains that we recorded in first quarter were sufficient, said Francesca Tengera, head of strategic management and planning at the official Rwanda Tea Board. Tengera also attributed the rise in output to increased use of fertilisers on the tea farms during 2007.

We have been very strict, ensuring that fertilisers are not diverted for any other use but properly applied in tea plantations, Tengera told Reuters.

Increased production, however, led to a reduction in the average price of the crop to $1.69 in per kg in the first seven months of 2007 compared to $2.04 earned in 2006.

The prices have been a bit low because of too much production which affected the quality of our tea, Tengera said. Rwanda is a small producer compared to Africa’s largest grower Kenya.

But it has adopted a competitive strategy that aims at value addition and introduction of new specialty teas to increase production and revenues.

Tengera said the privately-owned Sorwathe tea plantation, had the highest production of 2.4 million kg during the period.

Rwanda has 10 tea factories.

The tiny central African nation, whose economy was devastated by a 1994 genocide, targets increased revenues from tea to help cut on its high trade deficit and combat poverty.

Rwandan tea is sold mainly in bulk through the tea auction in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa in Kenya.

Much of Rwanda’s tea is sold to the United Kingdom, Pakistan and Egypt while new consumers recorded this year include Russia, Iran and Yemen.—Reuters