Jorhat, June 29: Small tea growers and owners of bought leaf factories will be imparted training on various aspects of tea cultivation and management from November.

This was decided in a meeting chaired by Upper Assam commissioner S.I. Hussain in Dibrugarh yesterday.

Hussain today said lack of proper training of small growers and bought leaf factory owners had been a major hurdle in the development of the sector and that was why it was decided that they would be trained.

“Though the state industry department was supposed to undertake such a mission several years back, nothing has materialised till date. As such, we have decided to go ahead with the training programmes on a district level from November,” Hussain said.

The production season ends in tea plantations in November.

Though Assam Agricultural University and Tocklai Experimental Station had earlier imparted similar training, it was stopped several years back after the Tea Board allegedly stopped funding it.

Hussain said experts from AAU and Tocklai and retired managers of tea gardens would be invited to impart training to the small tea growers on various aspects of tea production.

“We will also impart training on management and book-keeping, which are very important in running a tea plantation,” he said.

The commissioner said the training would be held in tea gardens owned by small tea growers along with practical classes. “Members of a few self-help groups will be trained in batches,” he said.

Hussain said the training would be free and would use the money collected over the years through the 25 paise per kg cess levied on small tea growers.

The commissioner said a move was afoot to provide medical and insurance benefits to the workers of small tea gardens and bought leaf factories, with the government planning to launch such schemes for workers involved in this sector.

All Assam Small Tea Growers Association secretary Karuna Mahanta, while welcoming the initiative taken by the Upper Assam commissioner, said the training would help develop the small tea sector.

Small tea growers contribute about 30 per cent of the total tea production in Assam, which is about 500 million kg per year.