The Hindu Business Line : Rs 4,500-cr tea revival fund by November

The Centre, as part of its three-pronged strategy to support the plantation sector, would make operational a revival fund of Rs 4,500 crore for tea by November next, according to Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce.

Inaugurating a workshop on `Evolving an export strategy for Kerala', organised by the Kerala State Export Trade Development Council (Kerexil), he said funds would be made available to the tea sector spread over the next 15 years.

He added that 25 per cent of the fund would be utilised to rebuild the tea industry in Kerala.

Revival funds for pepper, cardamom, rubber and coffee would also become operational soon. Besides, marketing and research and technology are other thrust areas.

About 90,000 hectares of coffee, 50,000 hectares of pepper and 50,000 hectares of natural rubber needed to be replanted with high-yielding varieties, he said.

Similarly, he said, new planting should be taken up in cardamom even though its productivity had trebled during the last 15 years.

He also said that the State Government would take up replanting of pepper with the support of the National Horticulture Mission. The Spices Board and the State Government would jointly implement this programme.

The first India International Tea Festival will be held in Guwahati in August next year and it would become a biennial event, he said. On similar lines, an International Coffee Festival will also be held in Bangalore in March next year.

A national seminar on the plantation sector will be organised here by the Spices Board on December 5-8, which would become a forum for discussing various issues faced by the plantation sector, he said.

The State Minister for Industries, Elamaram Kareem, presided over the function.

Mr Christy Fernandez, Additional Secretary in the Union Commerce Ministry, delivered the keynote address. Those who spoke on the occasion included Mr T. Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Kerala Industries Department, and Mr E. Yoonus Kunju, Director, Kerexil.

The Chairman of the MPEDA, Mr G. Mohankumar, and top officials of the Spices Board were among those present at the workshop.

More Stories on : Tea | Agricultural Policy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Study to assess farmers' indebtedness in Kerala

7.3 lakh tonnes wheat arrives in ports

Warming Pacific may fire up NE monsoon in peninsula

BV Biologicals sets up biocontainment plant

Australia-India Trade — Gold that's put to use more gold begets

Inflation dips marginally on lower energy prices

Spot rubber remains steady

Rs 4,500-cr tea revival fund by November

Good demand lifts prices at Kochi tea sale

Leaky sachets, not pesticides, are the most frequent complaint

Pepper futures market moves up

Aquaculture expo in Jan