Create an Exclusive Tea Department: AASTGA to Assam Government

Save Small Growers

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Sept 11: The All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association (AASTGA) comprising nearly 1.5 lakh small planters on Tuesday demanded the Sarbananda Sonowal Government to set up an exclusive tea department under a minister to control prices of green leaves to save the tea industry for future.

AASTGA president Gopal Krishna Khaund told reporters here that even though the Tea Board of India fixes the prices of green leaves, the factories in the State hardly give such prices to small growers on various pretexts. He said the small growers are often selling green leaves to factories below the cost of production.

“If such trend is not stopped at the earliest, it will be difficult for the small tea growers to survive on their business,” Khaund said, adding the factories even violate the order of district monitoring committees headed by deputy commissioners to give deserving prices to small growers for green leaves.

Secretary of AASTGA Rohit Borgohain said the rate of green leaves has not changed for the last thirty years and the small tea growers are selling green leaves at rates ranging from Rs 12 to 15 per kg at a time when ancillary costs, including that of fertilizers and pesticides as well as maintenance costs, have gone up.

Borgohain alleged that a section of middlemen with an understanding with factory owners are fixing very low rates for green leaves and thus there is an urgent need to create a separate tea department to control the rate of green leaves.

The AASTGA has also demanded that the subject of tea must be brought under the Union Agriculture Ministry from the Union Ministry of Commerce to safeguard the interest of small and medium tea growers.

As per the official statistics of 2016-17, the AASTGA has 1, 44,222 members who are cultivating tea at 6,02,055 bighas of land. Small growers had produced 1228.13 million kg of tea by engaging 2,96,804 workers. Small tea growers contribute to over 40 per cent in total tea production in the State.