Bhattacharya speaks at the annual general meeting of the small growers. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, June 15: Small tea growers of north Bengal are finding it difficult to send their produce to bought-leaf factories and big gardens because of the unrest in the hills and the plains, leading to price-cuts.

The growers have sought chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattachrjee’s intervention to find a solution to the problem.

Subash Bhowal, the secretary of the North Bengal Small Tea Planters’ Association, said: “We have more than 600 members in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur and Cooch Behar and their yearly production is about 10 million kg.”

“They sell the tealeaves to at least 50-60 BLFs and big tea gardens with factories located in the Dooars and Terai region. But now there has been a 30 per cent decrease in supply,” Bhowal added.

This had had an effect on prices.

“At the beginning of the season, we were selling tealeaves at Rs 10-Rs 10.50 per kg. The price has now come down to Rs 8-Rs 8.50 per kg as we try to clear the stocks that are piling up,” said Nitai Majumdar, an executive committee member of the association.

Tealeaves once plucked must be sent to the factories immediately for processing. Desperate small growers are now selling the leaves at reduced prices to factories with which they do not have tie-ups. Some of these are located outside the territory marked as Gorkhaland and have so far been unaffected by the unrest.

The small growers’ body held its 14th annual general meeting here at the Kanchenjunga Stadium hall today. At the meeting, the members decided to send a memorandum to the chief minister urging him to find a solution to the agitation in the hills and the plains.

Bengal urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya, who attended the meeting, said: “Maintaining peace and normality is essential for the tea industry’s prosperity. Unrest and consecutive strikes will not bring any solution.”

Amal Roychoudhury, the deputy director of the tea board in Siliguri, said: “You (small growers) should not compromise the quality of your product as you also play an important role in the industry.”