Building a Wider
Horizon With Labour
The small tea growers in Assam are presently a worried lot. They are not getting a fair price for their produce despite a price sharing formula - because prices are fluctuating wildly. The markets are depressed and prices far lower than what it costs them to produce raw tea leaves. They are seeking easier access to finance, lesser red tape in permits and licenses, and end to delay in providing subsidies already announced by the government. To tide over uncertainties in cultivation, they want crop insurance cover. As tea is being marketed more as a health drink worldwide, consumers want it to be organically grown. Mindful of this trend, small tea growers want the Central government to make available certified organic manure and pesticides. These and several other demands were sent in a petition to Union Commerce and Industries Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently by small tea growers from Assam and their counterparts from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. The Confederation of Indian Small Tea Grower Associations (CISTA) pointed out that in last fiscal 2015-16, small growers having on average less than 2 acres of land, contributed 33.85 percent of the country' total tea production. In terms of quantity, the small growers contributed 417.42 million kgs of the country's total tea production of 1233.14 million kgs.
