The Hindu Business Line : Major world tea producers to join hands

Kochi, Sept. 4 The major tea producers in the world, in a bid to regulate production, supply and expand the market, have decided to constitute an International Tea Producers Forum (ITPF) during the International Tea Convention (ITC) that ended at Colombo on August 30.

The ITPF is expected to be formally launched at the India International Tea Festival scheduled for November in Guwahati, Mr J.K. Thomas, President of Upasi and Vice-Chairman of India Tea Board, told Business Line on Tuesday.

He said that the tea producing countries felt that ITPF should be developed as a strong body on similar lines of other organisations such as the International Coffee Organization (ICO).

Excess supply

He said the tea was facing problems all over the world and to resolve them the producers had to get together. The ITC was attended by 14 major producers, including India, China, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Indonesia, Malawi and Tanzania, he said.

In dollar terms, the tea prices have not gone up in the past about two decades, the reason being over production, Mr Thomas said. Therefore, it was decided not to go for expansion in area in all the producing countries, he said.

Residue levels

The ITPF would collect information on area, age profile of plants, yield etc apart from taking up generic promotion of tea in largely populated countries where its consumption is less. Apart from creating a common platform it would also take initiatives to fix a permissible limit for maximum residue levels (MRL) in tea. At present, MRL norms of importing countries differ from that in the developed countries, he said.

Another important issue is the high cost of production in several producing countries mainly because of higher wages that makes the produce of such countries uncompetitive in terms of price in the world market. When the labour wages in India is around Rs 160 a day, it is around Rs 50 in some of the tea producing countries like Rwanda and Burundi, he said.

Govt support needed

It is high time that the tea estates, which are found to be unviable in south India especially in Kerala, should diversify into cultivation of other important crops such as bamboo, sandalwood, medicinal and herbal plants, apple and other fruits and dairy farming, so as to increase income and generate more employment, he said.

But, the Government should have to extend its support by amending the Land Ceiling Act governing the tea estates, he said. If positive steps are taken, the tea estates could become profitable ventures and a good model for others to emulate. Such a step would help regulate tea production bringing in equilibrium between demand and supply, he added.