The Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations (CISTA) has asked the Commerce Ministry to formulate a policy for floor price of green tea.

“The floor prices should also be implemented properly to ensure that small tea gardens are able to returns above the cost of production. Regular studies should also be undertaken on the cost of producing green tea,” said confederation president Bijoygopal Chakraborty in a letter to Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Commerce Ministry, which supervises the functioning of the Tea Board, should also look at providing financial support to small tea gardens. Crop insurance, price stabilisation fund, soil map card and irrigation are the need of the hour for small tea gardens, he said.

Quality tea can be produced by small tea gardens at a lower cost and thus tap the export market in a big way. The Centre should now take initiative to promote micro and mini tea factories as suggested by the Tea board to tap the potential, Chakraborty said in the letter.

He also said that the Small Growers’ Development Directorate should help small gardens get a fair price from bought leaf factories. Growers are having problems with bought leaf factories and the directorate should help in settling them, he said.

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