GREEN LEAF PRICE -- 1 

TEA BOARD FIXES GREEN LEAF PRICE AT OVER 2-YEAR LOW

 

 by P S SUNDAR 

 

Dr M Muthukumar IAS, Executive Director of Tea Board in the Union Commerce ministry has announced that the factories which purchased their raw material (popularly called bought leaf factories) green leaf from the small growers in The Nilgiris district in June must pay ₹ 12.68 per kg.

 

He has instructed field officials of the Board to ensure that no factory in their jurisdiction paid less than this price to the growers. 

 

However, this is the lowest price of more than two years.   The previous low was ₹ 12.19 per kg fixed way back in April 2020.

 

This is ₹ 1.17 less per kg compared to the price fixed for May.  That means, the average price has fallen by 8.45 per cent in one month.

 

This is as much as ₹ 7.24 less per kg compared to ₹ 19.92 fixed in June 2021.   That means, the price has crashed by as much as 36.35 per cent compared to this time last year.

 

Factory owners, however, contend that just as the Board fixes the price they have to pay to the growers, the Board must fix a minimum price for their tea at the public auction.

 

The President of The Nilgiris Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers’ Association Dhananjayan said that unless the tea fetches a minimum of ₹ 85 per kg at the auction, factories will not be able to cover their production cost asper the price sharing formula fixed by the Tea Board.

 

The small growers are a worried lot.  Some of them hoisted black flags in their villages and destroyed their green leaf instead of supplying to the factories to protest the unremunerative price they get.

 

Dr Muthukumar said, “The price has been fixed based on the consolidated auction sale average price of the relevant teas of bought leaf factories”. 

 

He as assured to solve the problem of low prices after discussing with the stakeholders.

(Response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)