Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: A promising fortune awaits the small tea growers of Assam. The state government will issue IDs to small tea growers in Assam, granting them all the benefits that registered farmers in the state receive.
Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma terms this a 'game-changing move' that will be quite supportive for the small tea growers in the state in the long run. They, the chief minister said, will enjoy all government benefits from a single platform.
According to official sources, the state government has included tea and plantation-class land holdings into farmers' registry portal, benefitting around 1.36 lakh small growers who have registration with the Tea Board of India. Soon after their registration in the farmers' registry portal, they will get farmers' IDs that will ensure them timely and requirement-based availability of fertilizers, scheme benefits, etc., in a single platform. It will allow them credit with better terms and eliminate middlemen from exploiting them.
Assam has around two lakh small tea growers, and around 1.36 lakh of them have registration with the Tea Board of India. Small tea growers contribute around 49 per cent of the total tea produced in the state. Planters who plant tea on up to 75 bighas of land are considered small tea growers. The lack of irrigation facilities is one of the problems that affect the small tea growers of the state. Three years ago, the state government took up an initiative to provide irrigation facilities to the small tea growers. However, the initiative has yet to materialise. Other problems for small tea growers are extreme price volatility, exploitation by middlemen, the lack of formal land titles, high production costs, hurdles in getting bank loans, etc.
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