The Tea Board of India has decided to set up 82 cells across the country

Expert tea cells to advise small growers 

Darjeeling, Sept. 12: The Tea Board of India has decided to set up 82 cells across the country with the specific task of giving expert advice to small tea growers on quality control and sustainable production.

The launch of small-growers development cells is a pointer to the importance the Tea Board is attaching to farmers with a few acres of land. The 1.6 lakh small growers scattered across the country contribute to 26 per cent of the total tea produced in India.

“The Tea Board has decided to set up 82 small tea growers development cells across the country. The cells will have 22 factory advisory officers and 60 field officers who will guide the small growers in various aspects like quality control and sustainable production,” said G. Boraiah, director of tea development, Tea Board of India.

He was speaking to The Telegraph on the sidelines of the National Workshop on Small Tea Growers at the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club on Sunday.

Till date, the small growers have been complaining that they are not getting recognition from the Tea Board and the government as they were not part of the elaborate plantation set-up, which dominates the tea sector.

The workshop was organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association (CISTA) and the Darjeeling Organic Ekta Society — a body of small tea cultivators in the hills.

The workshop discussed ways to make the small growers a formidable force in the industry.

“In India, tea is cultivated on around 1.65 hectares by nearly 1.6 lakh growers. Nearly 260 million kgs of tea produced annually at 440 bought leaf factories constitute about 26 per cent of the total brew produced in the country,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the president of the CISTA.

Boraiah revealed another figure to show the small farmers’ role in the economy.

“Given the present domestic demand, we would have had to import around 100 million kg of tea annually if the small growers had not contributed with their production. In a way, they are helping India save a foreign exchange of Rs 1,000 crore,” said Boraiah.

Chakraborty said as the small farmers were not organised, prices varied for green leaves supplied by them to the BLFs. Boraiah said the small tea cultivators could take their cue from the Nagpur Orange Growers’ Association, which had managed to bring all farmers under one brand.

Those who cultivate tea on less than 25 acres or 10.12 hectares of land are classified as small tea growers by the Tea Board of India. “On an average, a small grower cultivates tea on around one hectare,” said Boraiah.

Apart from Bengal, small growers are found in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya..

VIVEK CHHETRI/TT