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Agriculture

Bangladesh farmers trade lowly spuds for high tea

Growers brew bumper profits with tea leaves as government eyes export markets

Workers pick leaves at a tea plantation in northern Bangladesh, where thousands of farmers have traded potatoes, rice and other traditional crops for the more lucrative commodity. (By Kaniz Fatima)

PANCHAGARH, BANGLADESH -- Farmer Moudud Hossain once scratched out a meager living growing potatoes, nuts and sugar cane until a switch to more lucrative tea leaves changed his fortunes.

Hossain's plot of emerald-green leaves stretches across 7 acres (around 3 hectares) in the far north of Bangladesh near neighboring India's famous Darjeeling region, a cornerstone of that country's success in the international tea trade.

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