In 1982, 26 thousand tons of tea was produced, with tea-growing in Azerbaijan covering an area of 9.3 thousand hectares in 1983, mostly being green tea, but with black tea commonly grown in Lankaran District. At this time 65 to 70% of the local dry tea demands were being fulfilled, with the sector employing 65,000 to 70,000 workers. In 1987, the Azerbaijan Government implemented an edict to enhance tea production in the country, with a plan to expand tea production to 21,000 hectares by 2000. so increasing green tea yield to 80–90,000 tons and dry tea yield to 20–22,000 tons. However, events such as the collapse of the USSR and the first Nagorno-Karabakh War, tea production in Azerbaijan fell, reducing 1,200 tons by 1995. Later, with the development of market relations in Azerbaijan, tea production began to revive through ties with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.