TURA: Meghalaya Chief Minister Dr Mukul M. Sangma informed a single-window clearance had been put in force recently through the department of Commerce & Industries for expansion of tea factories in the State in order to address the problems of the tea growers due to surplus in supply of fresh tea leaves.
The Chief Minister was addressing an impressive gathering of tea growers under the banner of West Garo Hills Tea Farmers’ Federation and other farmers organized by district horticulture department as part of Agri-Horti Mission at Rongram Horti-Hub near Tura on Tuesday, according to an official communique.
The programme was organized under the direction of the Chief Minister who had expressed keen desire to meet all the tea growers in one platform to listen to their problems and give them an in depth understanding of the market trends and the need to balance demand and supply and mobilised the tea growers for organic certification of their products.
It may be mentioned here that with the increase in tea plantations in the region and surplus supply of green tea leaves, the tea growers have failed to get good returns for their produce in the recent years. As such, the farmers whose livelihood is solely dependent on their tea plantations are faced with a lot of hardship in maintenance of their plantations as well as their own families.
Egging on the tea farmers with words of encouragement and motivation, the Chief Minister stressed on the need to generate demand for their products not only within the region but also outside with multiple and innovative ideas. He said that the state would go for organic certification of tea grown in the region under Mission Organic. Towards this end, the department has formulated a scheme to improve the quality of tea training would be given to tea farmers for making natural fertilizers and natural pesticides by using locally available resources, he informed.
He, however, said that the move for organic certification should not be done on individual level and called for all farmers to come together as the agenda of the government is to work in partnership with them. He also advised the farmers that instead of depending on tea plantation alone they should go for multiple plantations and urged them to take up plantation of black pepper of Pennyur variety which does not require thick overgrowth and suitable to be grown in tea gardens. The Chief Minister along with other dignitaries also distributed saplings to the tea farmers on the occasion and asked the farmers to take up bamboo, agar and other plantations which would not only fetch them good income but also take care of their future generations.
Announcing a special scheme for Tea Tourism through horticulture department , the Chief Minister called upon the department to have entrepreneurship programmes for training farmers to create tea tourism, adding that the responsibility of the department is not only providing saplings, but should also protect the interests of the farmers and take their potentialities to new heights.