PESHAWAR, Dec 7: The district Nazim of Swat, Dr Mehboobur Rehman, has said that tea saplings worth Rs2 million will be planted in the area during the current year.

This he said during a visit to the tea plants nursery at the agriculture research centre in Mingora on Thursday.

He further said that about 100 shade houses with a capacity for 25,000 plants each would be constructed in the nurseries in the villages of Fathi Poor, Khwaza Khela, Char Bagh and Matta.

The Nazim announced that 50,000 tea plants would be distributed free of cost among local farmers during the year.

He asked the people to grow maximum number of tea plants on their lands in order to increase tea production in the country.