Tea Board Fails To Fix Minimum Price For Green Leaf

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Less than a week after Dispur’s assurance to fix a minimum price for green leaf soon, however the Tea Board of India has failed to arrive at a consensus.

A meeting of the Tea Board held in Kolkata on Tuesday decided to constitute a committee to discuss the issue threadbare. The committee will comprise representatives from different segments of the tea industry. The committee was constituted after the Tuesday’s meeting witnessed differences of opinion among various stakeholders to fix the minimum price.

“It will take time to fix a minimum price for green-leaf-producing small tea growers. Since the minimum price will be fixed for all the tea-producing States, the Tea Board now wants the prevalent prices at which green leaf is being bought,” a source in Tea Board said.

Sources said the fixing of minimum price for green leaf can be done only through wide-ranging stakeholder consultations and not unilaterally.

On September 20, Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary had asserted that the small tea growers would receive a major boost in their income with the Tea Board of India agreeing to fix the minimum support price for green leaf.

The greatest challenge being faced by the small tea growers is that the prices they get for green leaf is never sufficient to meet the cost of production, threatening their income security and plunging them into chronic indebtedness. On an average, the farmers obtained only Rs 9 and Rs 7 in Bengal and Tamil Nadu/Kerala whereas the cost of production was Rs 15.50 and Rs 18.50 respectively. In Assam, farmers received only Rs 14 whereas the cost of production was Rs 18.50.

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