Farmers in shock over tea factory attack

SHILLONG: The tea growers in Garo Hills have expressed shock over the midnight arson attack at Umsning while agriculture officials working in the tea sector mentioned that the attack is a setback to the efforts of the tea factory and the government to bring better livelihood opportunities for farmers of the state.
The MEG TEA factory owned by agriculture dept, Meghalaya Government, was established in 2013 with sole objective popularizing the production of high quality organic tea amongst small tea growers of the state under brand “MEG TEA” and to demonstrate the income generating and employment opportunities of organic tea cultivation to countless farmers across the state.
MEG TEA brand has created an impact in both domestic and international tea markets with renowned tea connoisseurs having gone on record about its uniqueness and quality of the product. According to the farmers, the Tea Development centre, Umsning, is the epicentre of the orgaic movement in Meghalaya, and is the inspiration for more than 30 small tea farmers to come together under the banner “AR SLA” to set up their own dedicated organic tea processing factory for long term sustainability.
The centre has also been instrumental in motivating more than 350 aspiring small tea growers to step forward and to convert more than 600 HA of tea plantation area to organic cultivation under the Organic Certification Programme.
As a fall out of this arson attack, the damaged processing unit will need to be shut down for extensive repairs causing huge loss not only to the government, but more importantly render more than 40 factory and farm workers jobless affecting their livelihoods and that of their children.