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With
14 percent of the world’s overall tea production
Assam
tea registered its name in the world market. And with 50,000kg
tea production annually, the small tea growers in the state
always help the big tea industries to achieve the milestone.
Significantly, the small tea growers approximately 50,000 in
numbers lack all the facilities that are necessary to boost the
green industry even as it provides employment to at least 2.5
lakh people in across
Assam
.
Having their own small tea estate in western
Assam
’s Kokrajhar district, Rabilal Basumatary and her wife
Chayarani Basumatar are happy enough when they were able to
provide employment opportunities to at least 100 people in their
125 bigha tea farming land. The couple is engaged in this
business for the last six years with more 33 small tea owners in
the district. With a tealeaf plucking capacity of about 1600 kg
per day, the Bijuli Bari Tea Estate of Basumatary family and
many others are in desperate need of government help. Lack of
Tea Processing factory in the district has also posed a big
problem for the small tea owners. There are only two tea factory
in Kokrajhar namely, Dalabari and Lalmati Tea factory.
“We have been trying our best to increase the quality and
quantity of tea. If we get some government help as well as some
new tea factories, then we will be able to fulfill our
expectations,” Said Rabilal Basumatary, adding “from time to
time we get assurance from the government side but in reality we
get nothing.” There is no fixed price for the tea leafs
produced by the small tea growers of the state. “On many
occasion the factory owners refuse to accept leafs terming it as
poor quality,” Basumatary stated.
Small planters in
Assam
grow 25 percent of the state’s produce and 14 percent of the
country’s overall produce.
Assam
produces about 450 million kg of tea annually and has 400
registered small tea growers. The actual number is estimated to
be above 50,000 and their annual income is around Rs 1 lakh per
hectare. Some time ago, Union Minister of State for Commerce
Jairam Ramesh said that Tea Board of India (TBI) would finance
five factories exclusively for small growers. The factories,
each costing Rs 40 lakh, were to be maintained by the growers
through cooperatives or self-help groups. He stressed on helping
them get better prices and promised that tbi would soon set up a
separate directorate for small tea growers.
Of the estimated 50,000 small tea growers in
Assam
only 2927 are registered with the Tea Board. Interestingly, the
government has been planning to provide land possession
certificates to all the small tea growers in the next one-month
which will make the small tea growers eligible to be registered
with the tea board for taking advantage of the center sponsored
Plantation Subsidy Scheme. However, the recent announcement by
the union commerce ministry to spend rupees 23,000 crore for
rejuvenation and replantation in at least 80 tea gardens have
enthusiased the tea growers. The positive stand taken by the
Assam Tea Board of giving all possible help has also rejuvenated
the small tea growers.
Prabin Goiary, another small tea planter in western
Assam
’s Kokrajhar district echoed the same view and said that if
the small tea owners in the state get some government help then
there will be a marginal increase in the quantity and quality of
tea.
Significantly,
the International Te Convention being held in the state in
November next is very important for the development of State’s
tea sector. This is more important for the growth of the
State’s small tea garden sector, which has brought a
revolution in the state’s tea industry silently.
April 2007
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