Assam: Bought tea leaf factories attach quality to remunerative price

 OUR CORRESPONDENT

TINSUKIA: As misunderstanding erupted among small tea growers in the Tinsukia district over the owners of bought leaf factories not paying a remunerative price for green tea leaves in respect of quality and pricing of green leaves, the president of the All Assam Bought Leaf Association (AABLA) clarified that the small tea growers in Tinsukia, unlike other tea-growing districts, did not follow the mandated guidelines.

In a press meet at Laipuli near Tinsukia on Friday, Chand Kumar Gohain, president of AABLA, stated that the meeting held at Guwahati in July, attended by representatives of the Government, Tea Board, ABITA, All Assam Bought Leaf Association, Small Tea Growers, Tea Auction Centre, and other organizations involved in the tea industry, decided to comply with the quality of tea leaves by 40 percent in order to produce good-quality tea compatible with international standards. He regretted that the small tea growers in the Tinsukia district supply low-quality green leaves to the leaf factories, and as a result, the quality of tea is much lower than in other districts like Golaghat, Sibasagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, etc.

The owners of the bought leaf factories in Tinsukia contended that they had objections to paying a good price for green leaves provided the small tea growers improved the quality of the leaves. Gohain also understood that the demand for Assam tea would fall in the international market as tea from Kenya and other countries started capturing the Indian market.

Citing a reason, Gohain stated that some agents buy green tea leaves from small tea farmers in the Tinsukia district without checking the quality and supply them to bought leaf factories in different parts of the district. Though recently, Tinsukia District Commissioner Swapneel Pal directed the Bought Leaf Association to pay Rs 20 per kg of green tea leaves, the owners of the bought leaf factories categorically stated that they would have no objection to paying the small tea farmers their due price if arrangements were made to supply green tea leaves as per the rules. Gohain urged the small tea growers to maintain a bud and two-leaf system for the greater interest of the tea industry. The press meet was also addressed by AABLA advisor Deben Singh and Central Executive Member Pawan Prithani.

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