Tea Board advises small growers to keep quality

In the context of falling prices, the Tea Board has advised small growers and small-scale factories to adhere to established quality norms for good price realisation.

“There is rush crop from June to August resulting in arrival of huge volume of made tea in the market. It is generally observed that during such times, quality and prices are affected,” Tea Board’s Executive Director CS Hariprakash said.

“To solve this, tea growers in the Nilgiris are advised to strictly comply with quality standards on plucking of green leaf, plucking rounds and transportation. Small growers should ensure that the leaves are not overgrown and they should pluck only two or three leaf and a bud,” he said.

They should follow appropriate agro practices, including timely pruning and acceptable way of harvesting, he noted.

He said that tea factories should comply with quality standards of manufacture and consume green leaf as per the standards prescribed by the Tea Board.

The factories should not overload their trough or use substandard green leaf for manufacturing tea. Only quality green leaf as per the normal acceptable trough capacity, that is 3 kg per cubic feet, should be loaded, he observed.

Small growers should not use sickle to harvest as it may deteriorate the quality of the green leaf and affect the health of the tea bush.

“All Board officials have been advised to verify this and report for remedial action,” Hariprakash said.

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