Trinitea to Tone up Small Holders’ Agri Practices, Uplift Produce Quality

Kolkata: The issues in tea exports have forced the 138 year-old Indian Tea Association, formed in 1881 as the representative outfit of British-owned sterling tea companies, to sign MoUs with associations of small growers in a bid for a qualitative breakthrough in the latter’s field operations.

The exercise which was initiated on a modest scale in April this year, as a joint initiative of ITA and Solidaridad—a global sustainability organisation of the Netherlands—is now gathering momentum. The initiative christened Trinitea aims at sustainable improvement in the quality of the green leaf produced by small holders.

Studies and examples of Sri Lanka and Kenya—India’s main rivals in the export markets—have established that, better the quality of the farm produce, better will be the quality of the tea produced and, therefore, better chances of realising higher prices. To sustain the interest of small holders, the world’s oldest organisation of tea producers has modified its rules to admit them or their associations and bought leaf factories (BLFs) as associate members of ITA. As it is known, BLFs procure their requirement of green leaf from small holders.

What are the ground realities of the Indian small grower segment and how do those compare with those in Sri Lanka and Kenya? Small growers have grown remarkably in numbers since the early 1990s – from a few thousand to 2,10,000 in 2018. The output of made tea from their green leaf has grown from about 7-10% to 48% of the total tea production – 646 million kg (mkg). Their area under farming has grown from some thousand hectares (ha) to 2,15,886 ha.

In Sri Lanka and Kenya, small growers have a very strong presence. Sri Lanka has an estimated 4,75,000 small holders, who did farming in 1,32,385 ha and the made tea output stood at 213 mkg, which was 70% of that country’s total tea output. The point to be noted is that the number of Sri Lankan small holders is more than twice the Indian figure.

Also read: Despite BJP’s Poll Promise, Assam Tea Workers Still Await Wage Revision

Kenya has an estimated 6,15,000 small holders who do farming in 1,38,382 ha of land and their produce is translated into 273 mkg of made tea, 60% of the total production. When seen in relation to India, Kenya has about three times more small growers.

Both Sri Lanka and Kenya depend heavily on small holders for tea exports, for which quality is a key factor and their small growers have made a mark with acceptable quality and competitive prices. Whereas in India, small growers, despite their 48% share in tea production, are just not in reckoning when export efforts are considered. The principal reason identified before launch of the Trinitea campaign is the below-acceptable quality.

India depends entirely on the organised sector (estates with captive factories) for exports but because of higher cost of production, compared to that of Sri Lanka and Kenya, is unable to be competitive in several markets. The higher cost of production is very substantially attributable to the cost of facilities that estates have to provide to workers under the Plantation Labour Act and these, inter alia, include subsidised ration, housing and medical.

Dr Shatadru Chattopadhyay, managing director of Solidaridad Asia, who conceptualised Trinitea, said the programme had been designed as a tea producer’s self-assessment digital tool for small holders. It helps to assess on-farm sustainability and supports producers with good agricultural practices. “The concept was concretised keeping in view my assessment that expensive third-party audit model of certification protocols had not delivered really, either in terms of quality or profitability,” Chattopadhyay told NewsClick while explaining how it took shape.

The sector lacks quality services and sustainability support and is, therefore, unable to meet challenges including those induced by climate change. Higher price realisation through quality upgradation and easy market access are the pressing needs. The programme seeks to realise these, he observed.

Arijit Raha, secretary-general of ITA, which acts as the facilitator, said an appreciation of the adverse effects of an increasing weight of substandard tea being produced had prompted his organisation to work for evolving a supply chain comprising large growers, small growers and BLFs.

The situation calls for an integrated system. Between 2014 and 2018, small holders’ output had soared 56% while that of the organised sector had seen a 13% decline. Thus, an increasing weight of poor quality is available, which inevitably depresses prices. There are few takers of such tea overseas.

Domestic consumers, too, had turned quality conscious. Sale of loose tea has been steadily falling and that of good quality packaged tea with information on the source of the produce increasing. Currently, packaged tea sale accounts for 75%.

“With a perceptible improvement in the quality of small holders’ produce, India will be better placed to tap foreign buyers. When export demand improves, the organised sector estates will provide larger quantity of green leaf from small holders. The same logic will apply in servicing domestic consumers who are becoming increasingly quality conscious. Hence, ITA’s decision to involve itself closely with Trinitea,” said Raha.

G Boriah, advisor (tea) in Solidaridad, said small growers have some core strengths – plantations are relatively young and productive; because of vigour they are able to withstand pest and disease attack. But, small growers do not know anything about upkeep. In the process, they overdo things. They think more manuring will get them more crop; also they think if they allow shoots to grow they will get more crop. As they extend plucking rounds, they get coarse leaf. Trinitea, therefore, puts a lot of emphasis on sound agricultural practices.

Also read: Darjeeling: No Bonus This Festive Season Rubs Salt on Tea Workers’ Wounds

The state-wise distribution of the total of 2,10,000 small growers is as follows: Assam – 1,01,000; West Bengal – 37,000; Tamil Nadu – 45,000; Kerala – 9,000 and the rest in other states.

Dr Gautam Kumar Saikia, professor of tea husbandry and technology in Assam Agricultural University, which is the knowledge partner for Trinitea, informed that already 21 training programmes have been conducted in four districts – Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat and Udalguri in Assam. The author of four books, Dr Saikia said AAU had been acting as the friend, philosopher and guide for farmers since the 1970s and projecting tea as the farmers’ crop. The response of the trainees is “highly satisfactory”, he added.

Bijoygopal Chakraborty, president of Confederation of Small Growers’ Association (CISTA), said “About 4,200 growers had been trained in Jalpaiguri district so far and by this month end, the figure would be 5,000 plus. A majority of those trained are in the 25-40 age group and they are very receptive. We have found that they are applying on the field what they are taught.” In the coming year, the campaign will be extended to Darjeeling lower elevation and North Dinajpur district, according to CISTA chief.

President of All Bodoland Small Tea Growers’ Association (ABSTGA) Jousrang Boro told NewsClick that his coverage area includes four districts – Udalguri, Baksa, Chirang and Kokrajhar. About 75% of those provided training are in the 25-40 age group and 85% are males while women trainees constitute only 15%. “I am happy with their response”, the ABSTGA chief said. 

According to V M Arjun, programme manager based in Coonoor, 98% of small growers in south India are in Tamil Nadu and are concentrated in the Nilgiris. Currently, 4,500 growers are being dealt with and the figure may rise to 6,000 eventually. Along with training for application of good farming norms, “we also aim at improving their quality of life,” Arjun told NewsClick.

Also read: New Jorhat Tea e-Auction Platform: Service Provider to Double up As Auction Organiser

About 75% of the Rs 10 crore budget for Trinitea has been received from the Netherlands and 25% is being contributed by the Solidaridad network, according to Chattopadhyay. The programme is being supported by United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI) and Quality Council of India.