Nepal tea growers on Bengal study tour

TT, 2 April 2019, Jalpaiguri: A delegation of small tea growers and officials of tea factories from Nepal have arrived in Jalpaiguri to improve the quality of their produce at learn about the domestic consumption pattern of Indian teas same time to augment export of their teas to India.

The eight-member delegation that has come from Jhapa district of the neighbouring country, will also visit the small tea plantations and tea factories which are run by small tea growers in north Bengal.

"The tea industry in Nepal is around 20 years old. We produce CTC tea in Jhapa while orthodox teas are made in Dhankota and Ilam districts of our country. The tea growers in our place get trainings from the Tea & Coffee Board of Nepal to know about cultivation of the crop, but they don't have the opportunity to learn about production methods which can augment quality of the product," said Debiprasad Koirala, the chief general manager of a Jhapa based bought-leaf factory that is run by a cooperative of small tea growers in Nepal.

According to him, there are 25 bought-leaf factories in Nepal, of which, three are run by cooperatives.

"Our teas fetch a price of Rs 90 to Rs 100 per kilo if we export it in India. The growers, on an average, get around 18 rupees by selling a kilo of tealeaves in private bought- leaf factories. What we have heard that growers from India are getting higher prices for CTC teas and also their tealeaves fetch higher prices. That is why we are here to know about their production process and how they manage to improve the quality of tealeaves as well as the processed tea," the official added.

In Nepal, the number of small tea growers is around 2,300, while in India, it is above one-and-half lakhs.

Bijaygopal Chakraborty, secretary of Jalpaiguri District Small Tea Growers' Association, who was present at an interaction held with the delegation from Nepal, said in Jalpaiguri, there are around 10,000 plantations and 25,000 growers..