Tea Board Panel To Probe Reasons Of Falling Green Leaf Quality, Prices

KOLKATA: Formation of an 11-member committee was announced by the Tea Board on Friday, to study the reasons behind the deteriorating quality of green tea leaves and for suggestion of remedial measures to reverse the trend.

The panel, to be headed by the executive director of the Tea Board’s office at Guwahati, will comprise representatives of bought-leaf factories, estate factories and small tea growers.

A thorough examination into the causes behind falling green leaf quality across the country will be conducted by the Tea Board’s panel and the time limit for submission of its report is three months.

Confederation of Small Tea Growers Association of India (CISTA) president Bijoygopal Chakraborty said the production has ‘fallen’ during the ongoing second flush season, while prices of green leaf dipped, going against the basic economics principle.

12-13 per cent of the annual production volumes in West Bengal are constituted by the second flush output, he said.

The small tea growers’ production in the state has “dipped due to pest attacks and scanty rainfall caused by global warming”, he said.

An official of the board said, “Tea Board has decided to set up a fact-finding committee to ascertain the causes of falling green leaf prices and also its quality.”

Green leaf prices has plummeted to Rs 17 per kilogram during the second flush season this year compared to last year, which were around Rs 35 per kilogram, Chakraborty said.

“Prices generally rise when a shortfall of a commodity arises. But in this case, prices of green leaf produced by small tea growers are falling, while production is also declining. The problem is even compounded by the rise in production costs. Such a situation is making operations of small tea growers unviable,” he said.

Earlier, the Assam government earmarked nearly Rs 550 crore for the state's tea industry in the annual budget, a move welcomed by the industry as it grapples with a long-drawn financial crisis.

Presenting the state budget, Finance Minister Ajanta Neog said that the Assam Tea Industries Special Incentives Scheme will also be strengthened to bring relief to tea workers.

"The potential of tea garden land has been unlocked and shall be used for agriculture and allied activities. Assam Tea Industries Special Incentives Scheme (ATISIS), 2020 will be further strengthened to incentivize the production of orthodox tea and specialty tea in Assam," Ms Neog said while presenting the Budget for the year 2023-24.

The budget also includes an increase in production subsidy for orthodox, which is tea produced using traditional methods of tea production, and specialty tea to "celebrate 200 years of Assam tea".

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