Ooty's Small Tea Growers Worried as Tea Board Yet to Announce September Price
The announcement is closely watched by small tea growers as it serves as an important benchmark for the price payable by tea factories for GTL, which the growers cultivate and supply to tea factories
Ooty: The Knowledge Sharing and Caring Trust(KSCT) has expressed concern over non-announcement of the average procurement price for green tea leaf price(GTL) for September by the Tea Board of India, worrying thousands of small tea growers (STGs) in the Nilgiris.
S. Padmanaban, founder of KSCT, stated that the Tea Board's regional office at Coonoor traditionally announces the average procurement price for the GTL in Nilgiris at the end of every month. The announcement is closely watched by small tea growers as it serves as an important benchmark for the price payable by tea factories for GTL, which the growers cultivate and supply to tea factories. However, the absence of the September price announcement raised several questions among growers.
“There is considerable speculation among the STGs about whether the mechanism for determining the green leaf price is being changed. One possibility being discussed among growers is whether the price may now be linked more closely to the sale realisation of made tea by individual bought-leaf factories rather than simply relying on a district-level monthly average. The Nilgiris has a large number of tea factories purchasing GTL from STGs. If the price paid to growers is linked to the sale realisation of individual factories, access to reliable and timely information becomes essential. The Tea Board shall make arrangements for the STGs to understand the average price realised by their factory and how that figure translates into the price paid for GTL.
A small grower cannot be expected to determine whether the price being offered is fair without access to the information on which that price is based.
If there has been a change in the methodology in fixing the price for GTL, the Tea Board should explain it clearly. If there is a delay because of other reasons, growers deserve to know that as well. The STG needs clarity. The Tea Board cannot allow uncertainty over the GTL procurement price to continue without adequate communication to the growers who depend on tea cultivation for their livelihood. The STGs deserve not just a price, but transparency about how that price is determined, Padmanabhan said.