Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Local tea farmers asked the government on Friday to regulate tea imports, which have reportedly begun to pressure the domestic market.

Indonesia Tea Council head Rachmat Badruddin urged the government to quickly respond to tea farmers' complaints as tea imports reached 10,870 tons last year, accounting for 12 percent of Indonesia's total tea exports of 87,100 tons.

Indonesia's tea exports have continued steadily from 96,200 tons in 2008 to 92,300 tons in 2009, Badruddin said, while adding that tea imports rose from 6,630 tons in 2008 to 7,170 tons in 2009.

"The government has to listen to the outcry of local tea farmers because the imposition of a 5 percent import tariff has not been able to curb import growth," he said.

Rising tea imports, he said, only provided benefit to large-scale tea packing companies that were able to secure foreign tea at cheaper prices than local produce. "What we need is the imposition of non-tariff barriers to regulate imports so as not to hurt local tea farmers," he said.

Due to the prevailing unfavorable business conditions troubling Indonesia's tea plantation industry, many farmers have converted areas of their tea plantations for other agricultural developments. This has led to a drop in tea plantation ares in Indonesia from 139,121 hectares in 2005 to 126,251 hectares in 2010.

West Java Indonesian Tea Association chapter deputy chairman Endang Sopari said that the impacts of climate change and various other factors had resulted in declining productivity. Higher costs had forced farmers to plant tea on only 30 to 40 percent of their plantation areas.

"One hectare should ideally have planted at least 10,000 tea trees," Endang said, adding that the falling number of tea trees on each plantation hectare should still have been able to produce 2 to 3 tons, but could only deliver a maximum of 800 kilograms now.

West Java produces around 75 percent of the national tea production with tea farmers reaching 150,000 managing 50,000 hectares of plantation land.

Badruddin said that he had assembled a team to formulate recommendations for the government and prepare joint steps with local farmers to improve productivity.