Small growers wait to resume tea production

This is despite the Tamil Nadu Small Tea Growers Industrial Cooperative Tea Factories Federation Ltd (Indcoserve) resuming tea production after the State government lifted the curfew on farming-related activities.

“Of the total one lakh acres under cultivation by small tea growers, about 35 per cent give their supplies to Indcoserve. Whereas, a majority of the remaining small growers supply tea leaves to 180 private tea factories, which continue to remain shut,” said B Venugopal, founder of Nilgiris Small Scale Tea Growers Awareness Centre.

Tea estates in the Nilgiris have shut down and tea production came to a grinding halt following the nationwide lockdown. “Thereafter, Indcoserve began buying tea from 16 factories, which resumed production one by one after April 6. We have enforced strict social distancing measures among workers of factories supplying tea to us. Also, masks were provided to all labourers as a precautionary measure,” said an official of Indcoserve.

Small tea growers, who sounded caution over Indcoserve resuming tea production, also remained worried that they have to leave the fresh flush of leaves to wither in the gardens this season.

“The flush of leaves that appears after the first spell of rain during summer are much in demand for their premium quality and aroma. Rains poured out over the last two days and the fresh leaves are expected in the coming days. They, however, can’t be plucked as the factories are closed. Still, it’s better to remain safe and not worry about the loss as this is a labour-intensive industry and any infection outbreak could spell a bigger disaster,” added Venugopal.

Earlier, S Soundararajan, director of tea promotion, Tea Board, appealed to growers who couldn’t pluck quality green leaf on time to discard overgrown leaves.

Tea growers decided to stop plucking of tea leaves due to suspension of tea auctioning in the market to prevent crowding to curb the spread. “It was more of a chain reaction as suspension of auctioning led manufacturers to stop production and eventually the growers were forced to stop plucking leaves," he said.

Normally, more than 15 lakh kgs of tea powder produced by the factories were auctioned off every week. More than three lakh people, who are dependent on the tea industry, have lost their only source of livelihood.

Almost 50 per cent of the around 7.35 lakh population in the Nilgiris has been dependent on the tea industry for their survival. The export has also taken a hit as almost 40 per cent of the tea produced in the hill district is sent to destinations like Russia, UAE and Europe. Of the total production of 1,300 million tonnes in India, about 20 per cent is from South India.

“Small tea growers would face a loss of Rs 5 crores per week due to halt in production. Ours is an organised sector and the government should extend some financial aid to help us survive during the crisis. Already the industry, which is the backbone of the districts fragile economy, has been affected by low prices for tea leaves,” said K Kumar, a tea farmer