Relief for tea, other cash crops proposed

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEB. 5. The Centre was fully aware of the problems of the tea industry, which can expect `some relief' in the budget for 2001-02, the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran, said here today.

He also disclosed that the Union Government was planning the ``contours of a price stabilisation arrangement which would benefit a good number of producers of important cash crops''. ``Hopefully, with the introduction of such a scheme, it would be possible to arrest violent fluctuations in the market prices of these products and lend overall support to growers'', he said.

Mr. Maran, who was inaugurating a two-day international symposium on `Tea Science', organised by the UPASI Tea Research Foundation (TRF) in connection with its platinum jubilee, said the scheme would require a cooperative partnership of government, business and farmers for its success.

``At the same time, we are aware of the fact - going by the experience of countries such as Brazil, Ghana and others - that such interventions do not necessarily guarantee stabilisation of prices or adequate return to the farmers'', he said. It was therefore, essential that in a free market economy, farmers also organised themselves on ``more professional and viable lines to deal with the emerging situation''.

Referring to the demands of the tea industry - reduction in excise duty, increase in the import duty on tea to `at least 100 per cent' from the present 35 per cent, extension to the corporate sector of tea duty concessions granted to small planters and stopping of import of low quality tea for re-export - Mr. Maran asked the industry to create awareness about the ``false propaganda'' that imports from Sri Lanka were responsible for the poor price realisation in the domestic market.

He said during this fiscal year, up to November, only 4.7 lakh kg of tea had come from Sri Lanka as compared to 15 million kg in the previous year. ``Sri Lanka is a friendly country and we also have to honour our contractual relations with it. Of course, if Sri Lanka sells tea below the cost of production, the government will initiate anti-dumping proceedings'', the Minister said. He also observed that subsidy `cannot go on for ever'.

Mr. Maran asked the industry to study why prices at the retail end, even at the foothills of tea-growing areas, had not fallen. ``There is something wrong somewhere'', he remarked.

The export performance during this year was `somewhat unsatisfactory'. During April-December 2000, India's tea exports at Rs. 1,375 crores showed a decline of about 12 per cent compared to the previous year. Though the deceleration in terms of quantity was a moderate three per cent, the fall in price realisation was by more than nine per cent, from Rs. 97 per kg in 1999-2000 to Rs. 88 per kg. It was also a matter of concern that the share of value-added tea exports in total exports had `not been registering an increase'.

Better price realisation for tea, therefore, critically depended on increasing the country's market share and also creating a niche in the value added segment through product innovation, Mr. Maran said.

Mr. L. V. Saptharishi, Additional Secretary, Commerce Ministry, urged the industry to prepare a blueprint linking productivity, technology and market.

Mr. Vikram Kapur, Chief Regional Executive, Tea Board, Coonoor, said the board's upgradation programme for small growers, in operation for the last seven months, was well-received and was likely to be replicated in North India.

Mr. Master Mathan, MP, stressed the need for lobbying with Russia for import of tea, especially from South India.

Dr. N. Muraleedharan, Director, UPASI TRF, announced the release of a new tea cultivar, which had shown high yield potential. In the second year of pruning, this new variety, released at the meeting, had crossed the yield of 10,000 kg of black tea per hectare.

Mr. E. K. Joseph, President, UPASI, highlighted the contribution made by the TRF to raising the productivity of the industry.

Mr. Maran launched the web site of the foundation, www.upasitrf.org.

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