Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Tea growers in Nilgiris breathe easy

Udhagamandalam: With Deepavali round the corner the good times have got better for the small tea growers of the Nilgiris. Though for the Badagas who constitute the majority of the 65,000 small tea growers of the district Deepavali is not a festival which is celebrated on as grand scale as other groups, this year there are indications that many of the Badagas are likely to make an exception.

The reason: the rates for the raw tea leaves of the small growers which had been steadily ascending over the past few months have touched an all time high mark.

Stating that at many parts of the district raw leaves fetched a record price of Rs. 19 a kg. last week, the Executive Director, Tea Board, R.D. Nazeem, told The Hindu in Coonoor on Wednesday that even during the heydays of the tea sector the growers got only between Rs. 16 and Rs.18. During the years which immediately followed the crisis which started during the beginning of the current decade, the rates per kg. had ranged between Rs. 2.50 and Rs. 3.50. From being put in an unenviable position, the growers are now not only able to breathe easy but also in a position to put something away for a rainy day.

Earlier, presiding over a workshop organised as part of the annual review meeting of the small growers societies, Mr. Nazeem said that Rs. 19 is the highest ever paid in the country.

Commending the small growers and the societies for their achievement he recalled that as recent as three years ago the prices ranged between Rs. 3.50 and Rs. 4 only.

Attributing the sharp rise to strict adherence to quality, he said that the price realised now was higher than the dream price that prevailed here during 1998-1999.

He pointed out that while the earlier high prices were due to supply-demand factors which could not be sustained, the present increase is due to improvement in quality brought about by the formation of societies and self-help groups.

He praised the Centre for Education and Communication , Confederation of Small Tea Growers’ Association and the United Planters Association of Southern India-Krishi Vigyan Kendrafor their contribution.

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