Dhiren Phukan, the owner of Senehi tea estate, shows the estate to a delegation from Canada in April. Telegraph picture

Jorhat, June 18: After tasting success at the India International Trade Fair in Delhi last year, two small tea growers in Upper Assam are now looking at Canada as a market for their organic tea.

“I have already received an order from a company in Canada to export organic tea,” Dhiren Phukan, a small tea grower in Dibrugarh district, said today.

Phukan, owner of the 13-bigha Senehi tea estate, said he had participated in the international trade fair in Delhi last year where he sold more than 250kg of both organic green and black orthodox tea.

“I got a good price for my teas and have received queries from various agencies and individuals from different parts of the world. Recently, I received an order from Level Ground Trading from Canada to supply tea,” Phukan said.

Level Ground Trading deals in various agricultural produce, including tea and coffee, with the small producers from various parts of the world.

The company representatives have been in touch with small tea growers of Upper Assam in the last couple of years and are also providing technical support to them to increase production.

Phukan said he would be sending his first consignment of nearly 200kg of tea in August to the Canadian company. His estate produces about 2,000kg of tea per year. He also sells green leaf from his garden to bought leaf factories.

Another small tea grower in Sivasagar district, Someswar Phukon, is awaiting an order from the same company. “I was approached by the company a few times and they told me that I would receive a formal supply order very soon,” the owner of Nalbari tea farm said.

Someswar, who is president of the Sivasagar district unit of the All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association, said he sold about 80kg of both green and black organic orthodox tea at the Delhi International Trade Fair.

“I sold green tea for Rs 1,000 per kg and Rs 600 per kg for the orthodox tea,” Someswar said.

He said both he and Dhiren have started organic tea farming several years back.

“We have made our own gas-run dryer machines with which we prepare our teas,” Phukan said.

He said they also make their own fertilizers — vermicompost and microcompost — for the produce.

A member of the All Assam Small Tea Growers’ Association said there were only four members of the association, one from Margherita and another in Lakhimpur, who have taken to organic tea farming.

“We are trying to convince our members to take up organic tea cultivation since it has great demand both in the country and abroad,” he said.