Plummeting prices of green leaves have posed grave challenges to the sustainability of small tea cultivation in Assam. Finding a sustainable solution to the persistent problem of price volatility of green leaves is critical to sustaining tea production in the state, as Small Tea Growers (STGs) account for nearly 50% of the total tea production. Small tea growers have alleged the Bought Leaf Factories (BLFs) are offering less than half the prices at which they had procured a couple of months before, and with selling prices being quite less than production cost, it has become difficult for them to sustain. A bigger livelihood crisis is also looming as it has become difficult for small tea growers to pay the workers at the rate of Rs 5 per kg of green leaves when prices have crashed to Rs 11 to Rs 14 per kg. The clamour for fixation of the Minimum Support Price is growing among small tea growers, with the Minimum Benchmark Price failing to ensure remunerative prices to them for green leaves. Industry stakeholders have rightly blamed the Tea Board for the prevailing crisis, as the Board failed to address the issues of infrastructure gaps with respect to the enforcement of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) norms relating to the presence of pesticide and insecticide residues in green leaf. Associations of STGs insist that the price-sharing formula established by the Tea Board mandates a 65:35 split of the net sale average between small growers and BLF. A status paper jointly prepared by the All Assam Small Tea Growers Association and the All Bodoland Tea Growers Association with the support of the Indian Tea Association and Solidaridad Asia, and submitted to the Assam Government seeking policy intervention, highlights the deepening crisis. It alleged that due to a lack of transparency in the supply chain, the price-sharing formula is not being properly implemented by BLF. Insisting that the main issue stems from the role of leaf agents, who serve as intermediaries between STG and BLF, the two bodies recommended that the state could provide support to agents in maintaining leaf quality, particularly in storage and transportation, which deserves active consideration by the state government. The status paper also recommended to the state government to advise the Tea Board for a total review of the present price-sharing formula, which is justified given the increase in cycles of volatility of prices of green tea leaves. It sought direction to the tea factories to share the Net Sale Average (including both auction and private sale) based on the Tea (Marketing) Controlling Order (TMCO), which requires tea factories to submit sale details in a form which includes the volume of tea produced each month, the quantities sold through auctions and private sales, and the price obtained. According to the associations, the rationale behind their recommendation is that the Tea Board often relies on the auction sale average to notify the minimum benchmark price payable by factories in each district due to non-submission of the particular form by the factories. The Tea Board clarifying its position on these issues raised by STG bodies is critical to ensure transparency and trust in the price-sharing formula and fixing of minimum benchmark prices. The tea factories, on the other hand, claim that most tea samples are failing FSSAI limits of pesticide residues, which they attribute to the use of pesticides in high quantities by growers to deal with the problem of escalation in pest infestation due to climate change impact. The Tea Board and FSSAI pushing for safety standards is crucial for consumer health, but provision of the required infrastructure support for laboratory testing without long delays, irrigation support for growers to overcome challenges of erratic and less rainfall, and awareness building among growers for safe use of pesticides and insecticides are crucial to ensure compliance without disruption in production of green leaves and made tea. It is also important that the STGs adhere to safety and quality standards for sustainable growth, which can be possible when there is a strong oversight mechanism, as self-regulatory norms are often violated by some growers, either wilfully or out of ignorance. The central government looking into the allegations of blending of inferior-quality Kenyan tea with Assam tea affecting the interest of tea growers in the state and placing the findings in the public domain is crucial to clear the air on price manipulation. The reactive firefighting when prices of green leaves crash has failed to address the problem faced by STGs, and finding out a comprehensive solution that addresses not just the issues of price sharing between STGs and BLFs but also ensures quality and safety standards has become an urgent necessity. A sustainable solution lies not in confrontation, but in consultation among all stakeholders - growers, factory owners, regulatory bodies, and workers - to address the problem of chronic vulnerability of tea growers.