Stop import of Kenyan tea, appeal growers in Ooty

COIMBATORE: Rampant adulteration seems to be taking the charm off the Nilgiris tea, popular for its taste and aroma.

Besides the sale of tea powder mixed with adulterants, the traders import made tea from Kenya, which is inferior in quality and costs less, to be either labelled as Indian tea or adulterated with tea made in the Nilgiris.

Currently, their imports have slowed down a bit due to prevailing extreme hot weather conditions resulting in the drying up of tea plantations in the African nation in recent days.

“Despite several representations to the central government to levy heavy import duty for tea powder brought from Kenya to limit arrivals, no action has been taken so far,” said ‘Thumbur’ I Bojan, president of Hill District Small and Marginal Farmers Association.

Traders claimed that tea powder from Kenya costs less than Rs 40 per kg because of the cheap labour and support from the government there.

“It is either adulterated with the locally manufactured tea or sold as Nilgiris tea for a hefty price. Such practice leads to a drop in demand for green tea leaves and eventually causes a price drop and pushes farmers to distress,” he added.

Farmers say that in the Nilgiris it costs around Rs 33 towards plucking one kg of leaf and Rs 50 to Rs 100 as a labour charge to carry the load from the field to the collection point depending on the distance. Also, the cost of manure has increased manifold.

Considering such expense factors, the farmers claim that it may be unviable to compete with African countries. They have been demanding Rs 50 per kg as the minimum support price for green leaf. Around 15 to 25 lakh kg of tea powder is auctioned in the Coonoor tea auction centre every week.

“Made tea in Nilgiris can be compared with Darjeeling tea because of its area of elevation. But poor price realisation is destroying our uniqueness,” says B Venugopal, founder of Nilgiris Small Scale Tea Growers Awareness Centre.

Tea farming proves to be the backbone of the hill’s economy as it provides direct employment to more than three lakh people by means of plucking tea leaves, transportation, and working in processing factories. Tea is grown in over 1.5 lakh acres, of which one lakh acres is managed by small tea growers.

TASTY NOTES

· Rs 25 and above per kg is the present price of the Nilgiris tea, which was just Rs 15 per kg due to production slump in Assam and West Bengal

· Rs 22.50 per kg is the production cost estimated by the horticulture department

· Rs 50 per kg is the MSP for tea leaves demanded by the farmers

· Rs 40 per kg is the maximum price given to Kenyan tea powder used for adulteration and sold as Nilgiris tea

· 1.5 lakh acres is the area where tea is cultivated in the Nilgiris

· 3 lakh people get employment through the tea industry in the hills