A quiet disruption has been brewing in the tea industry, which has now become manifest. Small tea growers collectively produce as much as, or even more than, what established players do. According to Indian Tea Association (ITA), the contribution of small growers in the context of overall tea production has touched 50 per cent. While this looks harmless at first sight, the Tea Board feels the trend does not augur well for the industry.
According to Tea Board chairman P K Bezbaruah, unless the demand goes up, this trend would destabilise the entire industry and cause disruption. To buttress his point, Bezbaruah said the production cost of the bought leaf factories and the small growers was low compared to the established composite gardens. Besides, the BLFs were paying pittance to the small growers for purchasing green leaf, making them to sustain at subsistence levels, Bezbaruah added.
The rub-off effect is that small growers resort to plucking bigsized leaves and a bud to ramp up production. This, according to Bezbaruah, will reduce the overall quality of tea. Bezbaruah said that it is important to pluck good quality green leaf – something hardly practised by small growers and some composite gardens at the moment.
He said the Tea Board is seized of the matter and has been trying to sensitise the growers on plucking good quality tea leaves and also finding means to raise internal demand. Total tea production during January-December 2017 was estimated at 1,348.84 million kg, while the estimated contribution of the small growers was 631.69 million kg. According to ITA data, the proportion of small growers’ contribution has been the highest in south India, followed by West Bengal and Assam.