Policy to support development of new varieties, better quality tea
By Ritwik Mukherjee: The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) chaired by the prime minister has given its nod to the proposal for implementation of the tea development and promotion scheme with an outlay of Rs 1,425 crore during the 12th plan period (2012-17), almost immediately bringing cheer in the industry. The proposal, floated by the Union ministry of commerce & industry, promises to help encourage value addition for realisation of higher unit value on the tea produced and marketed by Indian planters. The scheme aims to support development of improved varieties and technologies for higher production, productivity and better quality of tea. Besides, the move is aimed at promoting Indian tea in the overseas as well as domestic markets. The scheme has provisions for spending Rs 400 crore on plantation development, Rs 350 crore on quality upgradation and product diversification, Rs 200 crore on market promotion and Rs 150 crore on research and development, among others. The move has brought cheer particularly among the small tea growers. And why not? For the first time, a dedicated fund has been allocated for the small tea growers. An allocation has been made under the head of development of small holdings for a five-year period from 2012-13 to 2016-17, which not only marks a first for the sector, but also recognises the increasing significance of the small tea growers. Tea Board statistics show small tea growers have a share of over 33 per cent in India’s overall tea output and employ over two lakh people across the country. This fund (Rs 200 crore) may help impart training to this large workforce and eventually improve the quality of the tea produced by them. Indian Tea Association, which represents the relatively larger and organised sector tea growers, is happy too, because the large tea growers too have got sizeable funds to upgrade to an environment-friendly and safer production mechanism. The CCEA approval coincided with India’s overall efforts to make tea production more sustainable and environmental friendly. Moves are afoot to get at least 51 per cent of India’s tea production certified by Trustea by 2017. Industry biggies like Hindustan Unilever, Tata Global Beverages and others have already initiated necessary moves and started action to check the production process thoroughly so that it becomes more environment-friendly. Other players are also in the process of completely doing away with the usage of plant protection chemicals by 2020. All these have come at a time when world tea production has touched 4,819 million kg at the end of 2013, after crossing the crucial milestone of 4 billion kg in 2010. India, on its part, crossed the benchmark figure of 1,200 million kg last year. India’s tea production edged up 1.1 per cent in September from a year earlier to 158.1 million kg. When it comes to exports, India shipped out 146.17 million kg of tea during January-September, down 1.5 per cent year-on-year. Analysts pointed out that there was a severe mismatch between the cost of production and the tea price. The cost of production for tea ranges from Rs 110 to Rs 120 and the average price of tea is less than Rs 85. Unless the Centre puts an immediate ban on tea import, the local industry might soon be heading for a severe crisis. Source: Article, Open Images...
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