Frost-bitten Nilgiris tea growers begin selling Silver Oaks

The prevalence of frost in the valley, weakening of demand and low price owing to inconsistency in quality has prompted the Nilgiris tea growers to start selling Silver Oak trees to diversify their business activity.

With the frost that hit the district in the month of November still continuing, thousands of plantation workers and small tea growers have been rendered jobless as the yield of green tea leaf is fast nearing the lowest level in the rural areas of the district.

"The frost has caused extensive damage to the tea crop and small growers from the low-lying areas like Emerald, Avalanche and Kunda tea belts are the most affected. Out of one lakh acres of field owned by small growers, nearly 50 per cent of the crop has been damaged due to the frostbite," M Bhojarajan, chairman, Nilgiris District Tea Producers' Marketing Company (NDTPMC), told Business Standard.

Consequently, the arrival of green leaves to the Coonoor auction centre also has slowed down accompanied by the fall of prices in the offering. In the four sales of January, the average price for the black tea was Rs 43.75 a kilo - almost the same as in the corresponding sales of 2005 - Rs 43.59. But, the volume sold this year was 2.15 million kilo as against the last year sales of 3.81 million kilo.

As the income from tea has come down, small growers have started selling Silver Oak trees that are used to provide shade to tea bushes, to manage their expenses. This situation is likely to last till the fresh yield is harvested in June.

The sale of Silver Oak trees proves to be the best alternative for the cash-starved tea growers.

However, merchants offer a meagre amount of Rs 300 to Rs 600 for each well-grown tree that can be sold for Rs 1,000, saying that a hefty amount is to be paid to forest officials to fell and transport the logs outside the district, according to sources.