Tea Board allots Rs 50 lakh to up Nilgiri tea production

In order to increase the production and upgrade the quality of Nilgiri tea, the Tea Board has earmarked Rs 50 lakh under the Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) for replantation and rejuvenation of old tea bushes in the region.

Addressing the 24th annual general meeting of the Tea Trade Association of Coimbatore (TTAC), R D Nazeem, executive director (south), Tea Board, said they would soon implement a scheme in 1,000 acres of the Kundha region where there is high concentration of tea bushes which are more than 60 years old.

"The scheme, named Kundha Valley Replantation Scheme (KVRS), would be extended to both large estates and small growers. The Tea Board intends to implement the replantation activity (including uprooting and pruning) at a cost of Rs 1,500 per acre. The amount to be disbursed is pegged at Rs 35,000 for small growers and Rs 1 lakh for estates," Nazeem added.

The first disbursement is likely to be made around November, just before the closure of the plucking activity in the tea gardens, so that the corporate houses get access to the fund during the winter season.

U V Saraf, chairman of TTAC, said that in south India, tea production declined by 9 million kilograms (mkg) to 112 mkg during January-June 2006 from 121 mkg during the corresponding period last year.

"During this period, Tamil Nadu led the downfall in the south at 7.5 mkg. This was due to the closure of more than 35 tea factories in the region as part of the quality upgradation programme undertaken by the board," he added.

However, he said on the export front, the south Indian tea exports picked up substantially during the first six months of 2006.

Despite a fall in the production, exports from south increased by 15 per cent to 52.73 mkg from 45.53 mkg during the same period last year.

The rise in exports could be attributed to the fall in the production of tea in the drought-hit Kenya and the move of Pakistani delegates to double their import to 20 mkg this year, Saraf added.