Guwahati: Tea Board of India will launch a registration drive for small tea growers of the Northeastern region.
The move is expected to help those who are not registered with the Tea Board and are hence deprived of many facilities.
Informed sources said the Tea Board was going to launch a drive from May.
“All tea growers must have prior registration with Tea Board. However, a large number of growers are yet to be registered with us in Assam. We are launching a fresh drive from May onwards,” said a source.
There are those over 70,000 small tea growers (having only 10-12 hectares of land) in Assam. They produce about 30 percent of Assam’s total tea production.
The small tea growing sector gives employment to about three lakh youth in the state.
Meanwhile, Assam tea has maintained its popularity in the world market and producers should stress on quality control and not on profit, Tea Board sources said.
The Tea Board has apprised the government to check any anomalies regarding quality control of Indian Tea and amend existing laws to control quality of tea at various level, he said.
There were 1.80 lakh small tea growers registered under the Tea Board and they should concentrate to improve and maintain the quality of the tea while the industry as a whole should focus on profit factor. (Agencies)
