Tea Board India has decided to set up a fact-finding committee to ascertain the causes of falling green leaf prices despite declining production of small growers across the country, an official said on Friday.

Confederation of Small Tea Growers Association of India president Bijoygopal Chakraborty said the production during the ongoing second flush season has "fallen" coupled with dipping prices of green leaf, which goes against the basic principle of economics.

The second flush output constitutes 12-13 per cent of the annual production volumes in West Bengal, he said.

The production of small tea growers in the state has “dipped due to pest attacks and scanty rainfall caused by global warming”, he said.

“Tea Board has decided to set up a fact-finding committee to ascertain the causes of falling green leaf prices,” an official told PTI.

Compared to last year when green leaf prices were around Rs 35 per kilogram, the same has plummeted to Rs 17 per kilogram during the second flush season this year, Chakraborty said.

“Prices generally rise when a shortfall of a commodity arises. But in this case, prices of green leaf produced by small tea growers are falling, while production is also declining. The problem is even compounded by the rise in production costs. Such a situation is making operations of small tea growers unviable,” he said.

Chakraborty said that bought leaf factories (BLFs), which buy the crop from small growers, are pointing out the fact that “demand for tea leaf is falling and they are also saddled with huge inventories, which is leading to lower off-take”.

Annual production of small tea growers constitutes 65 per cent of the total crop in north Bengal, while it is close to 52 per cent of the overall volume of the country.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.