The Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (Cista), the apex body of small tea growers in the country, has urged the Tea Board of India to announce the last date of tea plucking for this year and also the date from which plucking will commence next year.
“For the past eight years, the Tea Board of India has been announcing these dates to prevent plucking and production of low-quality teas during the winter months, when fresh leaves stop coming in the bushes. However, this year, the last dates for plucking and production have not been announced,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the president of Cista.
In India, there are around 2.5 lakh small tea growers who contribute around 54 per cent of the national tea production.
“If the tea board does not issue any order specifying the dates by which plucking and production will stop, we suspect that a section of the bought leaf factories will continue their production even during the dormancy period. This will eventually lead to the production of inferior quality of tea, which will go on to affect (the reputation of the teas in) the domestic and international markets,” Chakraborty added.
Bought leaf factories are standalone tea processing units which buy and process tea leaves. These factories are an integral part of the tea industry in north Bengal and they form an important market for small tea growers.
In the letter, Cista has stated that for Bengal, the last plucking date should be December 25, while for Assam, it should be December 20 this year.
These two states are the major producers of tea in India.
“Last year, the tea board had fixed November 30 as the last date for plucking. Because of this order, the industry and especially the small tea growers suffered losses as beyond November 30 there were adequate tea leaves available at the plantations, but we could not pluck and sell them. That is why we have requested a later date this year,” said a senior small tea grower based in Jalpaiguri.
The grower further mentioned that the board should, in due course, announce the date when plucking can start next year by December.
Usually, fresh tea leaves start sprouting from the end of February every year in
this region.
“This will help the growers to carry out pruning and other works during the winters in a planned manner,” the grower added.