Guwahati: The North Eastern Tea Association has opposed ITA’s proposal of price-sharing with small growers. In a letter to Tea Board Chairman MGVK Bhanu, North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) alleged Indian Tea Association (ITA) is working only for the interest of corporate tea estates.
“To our knowledge, the price sharing formula is very much in force. Then why is the Tea Board not implementing price sharing formula on the corporate sector tea estates? The price sharing formula should be applicable for the whole tea season and not on piecemeal basis,” ITA Chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty said in the letter dated June 27.
The price sharing formula, he said, cannot be different for bought leaf factories and estate factories. Not only small tea growers but many medium sized tea estates also sell green leaves.
“The sudden utterances by corporate sector tea industry are nothing but a conspiracy against the people of Assam. We strongly condemn their statements and hope good sense will prevail upon them and they will withdraw the derogatoryst atements made against the green leaf growers and bought leaf actories,” Barkakoty said.
Earlier this week, ITA had said it is seeking to bridge ties with the unorganised sector of small tea growers as the latter’s production volumes were witnessing a secular rise.
“The volume of tea produced by small tea growers is approximately 33 per cent of the total production. At this juncture, it is important to establish a linkage between them and organised players,” ITA Chairman A N Singh had said.
He had said that the large volume of small tea growers, whose produce were being processed at various bought leaf factories, was actually bringing down the prices of quality tea in both the Assam and Dooars region in West Bengal.
Singh said ITA was having initial talks with Tea Board for bringing the small tea growers to the same table for a solution.
On the ITA chairman’s proposal to adopt good manufacturing practices like in Kenya to ensure the quality of tea produced by small tea growers (STGs), Barkakoty said, “It is a known fact that 35 per cent of total tea from Assam is produced by bought leaf factories (BLFs) and 50 per cent of tea produced in Assam are from purchased leaf. “By blaming the STGs and BLFs for poor quality and cheaper varieties, ITA has in fact brought down the image of Assam tea in general.”
As ITA does not represent the BLF sector, therefore the national association has no right to blame that particular sector for manufacturing poor quality tea, he said.
Barkakoty asked the Tea Board if it has any such data, which will prove that it is only the BLFs that produce poor quality teas with the poor quality leaf supplied by STGs.
“It is humiliating for green leaf sellers. There are many green leaf gardens whose leaf quality is better than many corporate sector tea estates. This type of mud slinging will only bring bad name to Indian tea. Tea Board being a regulatory body should take a note of it so that it does not happen in future,” he added. (PTI)