Tea survey to find out viability in Dooars

AVIJIT SINHA, TT, Siliguri: The Tea Board of India has decided to carry out a survey in gardens in the Dooars and Terai to find out the viability of the estates in the plains.

R. Kujur, the deputy director of the tea board posted in Siliguri, said: "Over the past few years, we have noticed that the annual production in the Dooars has been increasing at a dismal rate. We had received a request from the planters' fraternity to examine the sustainability of the gardens in the Dooars. That is why the tea board decided to carry out the survey and collect data on parameters ranging from production to the cost involved."

According to the official, the survey would start in a day or two and would be carried out by five teams, which will visit the 22 tea estates identified by the board.

Sources said the rate of increase in production in the Dooars had not been satisfactory over the past couple of years. From January to August in 2016, tea production in the Terai had increased by 11.51 per cent compared to the that in the first eight months of 2015. But in the Dooars, the rise in production was only 2.51 per cent in the same period.

Planters owning tea estates in the Dooars have time and again rued that they are finding it difficult to maintain the viability of their gardens.

"The costs of different components are on the rise and most importantly, the wage rate of the workers is due for revision. In such a situation, we wanted the tea board to check out the current state of affairs," said Prabir Bhattacharjee, the secretary-general of the Tea Association of India.