Small tea growers of north Bengal have written to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking her intervention in extending the date of the closure of tea production.

The Tea Board of India, the apex agency of the central government that controls the tea industry, declared November 30 as the date to close production, which growers found to be too early.

“In our letter, we have said that in 2024, the tea board announced November 30 as the last date of production. Even though green leaves were available in plantations, we could not pluck or process them. This has led to a loss in production and affected our earnings,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the general secretary of Jalpaiguri District Small Tea Growers’ Association.

“We have requested the chief minister to take up the issue with the tea board and the Centre so that from this year, we are allowed to pluck and process teas till December 31 in north Bengal,” he added.

Over the past few years, the board has been announcing dates for the start and closure of tea plucking in the tea-producing areas of the country. This is being done to avoid the production of inferior quality tea during winter when fresh tea leaves stop coming in the bushes.

Chakraborty pointed out that in 2023, 433.54 million kilos of tea were produced in Bengal from January to November while in 2024, tea production during the corresponding period was 369.17 million kilos.

“This means, a reduction of around 15 per cent. Also, in December 2023, 39.1 million kilos were produced in our region. This year, we have lost this production (in December) as well,” said Chakraborty.

The growers said that inclement weather caused production to suffer during the summer and monsoon months last year. “If we were allowed to pluck the leaves in December, we could have recovered a portion of our losses,” said a grower based in Siliguri.

In the letter to Mamata, small tea growers also requested her to extend to tea growers the different schemes and benefits that the state provides to farmers.

Among these are the Krishak Bandhu (a one-time grant to a farmer’s family in case of his death), Bangla Shasya Bima (crop insurance), and Bangla Krishi Sech Yojana (providing equipment for irrigation to farmers).

“There are around 50,000 small tea growers in north Bengal. They are no different from farmers producing other crops. That is why we have urged the chief minister to include the tea growers under these schemes and make necessary allocations in the ensuing budget for the next fiscal (2025-26),” said Chakraborty.

Plucking dates

The tea board on Wednesday announced the dates from when the plucking of tea leaves will commence this year. Plucking will start in the Terai, the Dooars and Bihar from February 17 and in the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim from February 27.

In Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it will start from March 7.

“The decision was made based on consultation with experts and stakeholders of the industry,” said a source.