KALPETTA: Tea farmers in the Wayanad-Nilgiri region have been affected severely after the introduction of GST. Tea prices have almost halved at auction centres in Coonoor and Coim-batore as the market majors Hindusthan Uni-lever and Tatas kept off the auctions. In Kochi the prices have been slightly affected. Majority of farmers in Wayanad depend on the ‘bought leaf’ factories of Nilgiri district to sell out the green leaf as there are only a few factories in the region. As per the weekly price list data of Tea Board of India, the average price of tea dust in mid April at Coonoor was Rs 104 while it was Rs 110 in Coimbatore whereas in Kochi it was Rs 104.
The prices nosedived in September with the average price at Coonoor coming down to Rs 67.5 while it was Rs 78.3 in Coimbatore. However, the Kochi market was only slightly affected. Tea dust manufacturer T.C. Varghese who is also a green leaf agent based at Chulliode near Sulthan Bathery, told this newspaper that the tea farmers of the district have been most affected due to the crisis. “The price of green leaf was Rs 14 to Rs 16 in May which came down to as low as '8 in August,” he pointed out.
Jose Sebastian, CEO, Wayanad Green Tea Producers Company Limited, a farmers’ initiative, told this newspaper that the farmers will get nothing from the harvest as the production cost itself will come to the same rate. “The plucking cost of tea leaf is '5 to '7 and the total cost will go up to Rs 8,” he added. The Kochi market is not that much affected as the market has been controlled by the Tatas. M.K. Ajith, chairman of the Tea Trade Association of Cochin says that the GST implementation has not impacted the tea auction in Kochi. “We have not noticed any decline in participation by buyers or fall in price,” he said. Tea Board authorities also attribute the price fall to the high yield this season. Market sources said that the trend will continue for a few more weeks as lakhs of kilograms of tea dust has been piled up in manufacturing units.
