The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Keep Darjeeling tea industry out of purview of agitation’

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Saturday, Jun 28, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Keep Darjeeling tea industry out of purview of agitation’

Special Correspondent

Crop production down 30 % due to vagaries of weather

Stress on stepping up R&D on Darjeeling tea
GI registration for Assam Orthodox mooted

KOLKATA: Basudeb Banerjee, Chairman, Tea Board of India, the regulatory body for the Indian tea industry, has urged the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) to keep the Darjeeling tea industry out of the purview of the agitation.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA), he said: “we hope that good sense will prevail on the leaders of the GJM to keep the industry outside the purview of the turmoil.” This year, the meeting was being held here instead of Darjeeling due to the political problems rocking the hills.

“I would urge the GJM not to carry out activities that affect the livelihood of so many people,” Mr. Banerjee said, adding that the tea industry was the identity of the Darjeeling hills and tourism followed it.

“It is a flagship brand and much has been achieved over the years, we have taken several initiatives and all had begun to bear fruit,” he said. DTA sources told The Hindu that while 55,000 were employed in the gardens, another 45,000 worked in the factories and in ancillary activities. Earlier, DTA Vice-Chairman R. K. Babaycon said that the industry had already suffered a 30 per cent drop in production due to the vagaries of weather in its best season between March and June when 50 per cent of the crop was harvested.

Darjeeling tea crop averages at around 10 million kg. He said the industry was yet to make any quantitative assessment of the loss that it had suffered due to the Gorkha agitation so far. Sources said that export orders had been lost as buyers returned without being able to visit gardens. Aside from the agitation, Mr. Banerjee stressed on the need to step up R&D on Darjeeling tea to improve yield and quality. He urged the industry to step in with funding saying that funding models depended solely on the government and the Tea Board would not be sustainable. Even on protection of intellectual property rights of Darjeeling tea (on which some headway has already been made), he wanted the industry to step in. He said under the XI Plan, Rs. 5 crore had been allocated for industry upgradation schemes, including setting up of a ‘Centre for Excellence.’ He said that efforts were on to get geographical indications (GI) registration for ‘Orthodox’ teas grown in Nilgiris and Assam. Tea Board Deputy Chairman Roshni Sen said that work was also going on for getting GI registration for Terai and Dooars tea.

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