The Tea Board has published a series of guidelines to guarantee openness and compliance in the transactions after observing that tea firms are not paying small producers fair amounts for green leaf.
Every registered producer that buys tea leaves has been instructed by the Board to keep a separate register that includes information about the suppliers of green leaves, including their address, the amount of leaf they buy each day, and a fine leaf count.
In the presence of the green leaf supply, the fine leaf count must be performed using the "ballometric" approach. The Tea Research Association (TRA) created the ballometric method to determine the proportion of fine leaves (buds and young leaves) in a crop of plucked tea.
In the presence of the green leaf supply, the fine leaf count must be performed using the "ballometric" approach. The Tea Research Association (TRA) created the ballometric method to determine the proportion of fine leaves (buds and young leaves) in a crop of plucked tea.
Small tea growers have refuted manufacturers' claims that low green leaf pricing were caused by poor quality. The registry, which will be routinely examined by the Board, must be signed by both tea producers and green leaf suppliers.
The Board threatened to take action against errant manufacturing facilities, arguing that cheap prices were hurting small-scale tea growers, disrupting the supply chain, and harming the tea industry.
The Board threatened to take action against errant manufacturing facilities, arguing that cheap prices were hurting small-scale tea growers, disrupting the supply chain, and harming the tea industry.
Small tea growers protested as green leaf prices fell to about Rs 11 in many locations this year, claiming that the Tea Board and the government had failed to address the issue.
