Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam Government has taken a slew of measures to various issues affecting the small tea growers, including their problem relating to the fixation of green leaf prices.

The state has around 1.22 lakh small tea growers who have tea plantations on around 1.25 lakh hectares of land. In 2024, their production was 295 million kg of green leaf.

The Department of Industries has initiated the process of forming Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs), with each FPO comprising 500 small tea growers. In the first phase, FPOs will be formed in the Dibrugarh district through village-level meetings. Once the FPOs are established, they will be able to handle the buying and selling of green tea leaves and help in determining fair prices. Additionally, the FPOs will assist in assessing the quality of green tea leaves.

As part of this initiative, Minister of Industries, Commerce, and Public Enterprises Bimal Borah held a meeting at the Janata Bhawan with Ishwar Chanabasappa Pujar, Director of the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), in the presence of Aheduz Zaman, Director of Tea, Assam. The discussion focused on how these FPOs can be supported under various central government schemes.

In the next phase, IIE will provide appropriate training to the FPO members. It is notable that under central government schemes, each FPO may receive financial assistance of up to Rs 20 lakh.

With the formation of these FPOs, there is a strong possibility that many of the long-standing problems faced by small tea growers will be resolved.

A high-level meeting regarding the formation of FPOs involving IIE, the Tea Board of India, the Tea Directorate of Assam, the Assam Industrial Development Corporation, and the Industries Department was held today. The meeting had a detailed discussion on the role of all stakeholders in forming the PFOs and the logistic support to be provided by IIE.

Most of the small tea growers are first-generation young educated entrepreneurs who have started contributing immensely towards the transformation of socio-economic life in rural Assam. The state government has already launched several schemes to benefit them. However, the main hurdle for them is the fixation of green leaf prices, as bought leaf factories continue to deny them a remunerative price.

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