The Tea Board of India has urged tea small growers and their self-help groups to set up mini tea factories to process their own green leaves and fetch good prices for their quality made teas.
“Such a factory may need an investment of around ₹25 lakh. Tea Board will assist with subsidy for 40 per cent of this cost,” Tea Board Executive Director C Paulrasu said.
“These mini factories can manufacture up to 500 kg of made tea per day. They can get a price of around ₹200 a kg for quality orthodox tea and ₹300 for quality green tea. Based on the sale average, tea small growers will get around ₹30/kg for their green leaf,” he explained.
“Establishing such mini factories will help the farmers overcome the issue of non-remunerative prices and avoiding the green leaf agents, the farmers can become entrepreneurs. The Board is encouraging this scheme even by extending technical knowledge and marketing strategies where required,” Paulrasu disclosed.
Earlier, he inaugurated a mini tea factory in Jagathala village near Coonoor set up by Moonlight Tea Farmers’ Producer Company, with a conglomeration of 35 small growers owning 40 acres under tea.
“This type of farmer producer company is the first of its kind in Tamil Nadu,” he said.