Government can be a partner, but the tea industry has to come forward. This was the message given by Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, Additional Secretary, Union Commerce Ministry, while addressing the 131st annual general meeting of the Indian Tea Association (ITA). He said that productivity and quality were two of the major challenges before the Indian tea industry which also needed to make an in-depth study on mechanisation, to see whether it would be of any help.
Referring to climate-change, which was affecting the tea industry, he said that there was need to build up research capability to tackle this. “On the issue of funding of the Tea Research Association by the government, I would urge the tea industry to get into research to see how it could manage drought,” he said. On tea auctions, he said that there was need for greater transparency and better democracy on this.
Quality issueNoting that the small tea growers were now contributing over 30 per cent of India’s tea crop, he said that this was “a challenge for the large industry.”
Tea Board Chairman Siddharth said that quality and safety issues should be addressed. He said that while Indian standards needed to be strengthened, no laws were violated while growing tea.
Referring to the recent Greenpeace report, alleging presence of pesticide in Indian teas, he said that while the Tea Board had given a strong rebuttal, the industry would have to accept the various quality standards to stop “people from pointing fingers”.
ITA Chairman A. N. Singh said that the sharing of welfare costs between the industry and the government was the key to enhancing the industry’s viability and competitiveness. He also said that the Tea Board schemes on replantation should be continued with high outlays.
