Researchers have suggested restructuring plantations, ''collectivization'' through farmer producer organisations (FPO) for small tea growers (STG) and encouraging STGs to produce high-value tea for reviving the Indian tea industry and guaranteeing better prices and exports.
The revamp could begin with the medium-sized tea plantations that have, over time, become less efficient than the larger ones and STGs. The land can be leased out to the small farmers, the paper, 'Value chain configuration in the Indian tea economy: A historical perspective,' authored by Thiagu Ranganathan, Tirtha Chatterjee and Rucha Takle of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, suggested.
The crisis in Indian tea is largely on account of stagnating prices, declining efficiency of plantations - medium-sized ones in particular - and stagnant export demand. That the STGs (growers having up to 10.12 hectares) are producing more tea than the plantations also make a case for restructuring the plantations, it noted.
''When tea is mentioned, people tend to think of large plantations. Things have changed. Last year, more than 50% of tea was produced by small growers,'' Dr. Ranganathan, an associate professor at CDS, said.
‘’As of 2021, small tea growers contributed to 50.73% of total tea production in India, implying that small tea growers produced more tea than the plantations. As of 2017-18, STGs produce 42% of tea in Assam and 54% of tea in West Bengal,’‘ the paper observed, adding that tea growing areas have expanded to 66 districts in 11 States.
For providing a fillip to small growers, the researchers have suggested collectivization through FPOs and helping them improve quality. They should also be encouraged to diversify into high-value tea varieties that have markets abroad, a step which could guarantee higher prices and revive exports.
The paper offers interesting insights into the growth of Indian tea under British rule and the post-Independence decades. ''In Kerala’s Travancore, coffee plantations began in 1862 and following losses due to diseases, tea was planted in an experimental measure in government gardens in Peermade from 1864,'' it noted. By 1906, the regions around Peermade had 8,000 acres of tea and 500 acres of coffee.
The paper also indicates how, from the 1940s, tea came to be positioned more and more as a 'desi' drink ''that provided energy and alertness to Indians, a progressive, empowering drink for home-makers, and a drink that fought fatigue.'' Over the decades, the jump in domestic consumption combined with the emergence of countries like Kenya and Sri Lanka as competitors reduced Indian share in tea exports.
