North Bengal’s tea industry is reeling under the impact of the tea board’s controversial decision to halt green tea leaf plucking from 30 November 2024.
The move has triggered widespread outrage among small tea growers, who allege that the premature closure has caused massive production losses and deprived the state of nearly Rs 1,000 crore in GST revenue.
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Taking note of the crisis during her recent visit to Alipurduar, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had directed an investigation into the rationale behind the tea board’s contentious decision.
Miss Banerjee directed chief secretary Manoj Pant to investigate the board’s decision to stop plucking of green tea leaves. In response, the Jalpaiguri District Small Tea Growers Association (JDSTGA) has shared its concerns over the significant losses incurred by the early closure of tea gardens.
In a letter to the chief minister, JDSTGA highlighted that the early closure has not only reduced tea production but also resulted in a loss of approximately Rs 1,000 crore in GST revenue for the state government.
A JDSTGA official Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty stated that Bengal produced nearly four crore kilo of tea in December 2023. The tea board’s 2024 decision for early closure, aligning Bengal’s plucking dates with Assam’s, disrupted this output and led to a crop loss of around 15 per cent, the highest among all tea-producing states. The state’s tea production dropped from 433.54 million kg in 2023 to 369.17 million kg up to November 2024.
According to Mr Chakraborty, the tea board implemented the early closure policy eight years ago to manage oversupply and prevent poor-quality production during winter. However, Bengal traditionally allowed plucking until the third week of December. This schedule consistently yielded good-quality tea over the past five years.
Mr Chakraborty criticised the tea board for not consulting Bengal’s producers before setting the same closure date for Assam and Bengal in 2024. Despite repeated requests to extend plucking dates for Bengal, especially for small tea growers (STGs), the tea board remained firm on its decision.
The association emphasised the financial struggles of around 50,000 small tea growers in Bengal, most of whom belong to rural, indigenous, and minority communities. These growers, owning an average of five bighas of land, depend on tea cultivation for their livelihood. More than 15 lakh people are directly or indirectly involved in this sector.
The early closure left growers without income for the past two months, with this situation expected to continue until mid-March. Many were forced to sell their highly perishable green leaves below production costs, leading to distress sales. The lack of an effective price mechanism has exacerbated the financial challenges for STGs, despite repeated appeals to the Union commerce ministry for intervention.
In its letter, JDSTGA urged the CM to take up the matter with the Union commerce ministry. They requested the introduction of a fair and remunerative price (FRP) mechanism for green tea leaves, similar to sugarcane, to ensure sustainable incomes for small growers. Additionally, they demanded that plucking be allowed until 31 December, every year, in north Bengal to prevent further losses.
