1 lakh saplings, cheaper machinery, Himachal readies plan to boost tea plantation

Tribune News Service

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, October 3

Facing a challenge to revive 53 per cent (about 1,200 hectare) of abandoned area under tea cultivation, the Agriculture Department is distributing one lakh plants among farmers, besides undertaking fresh plantation in Jogindernagar, Palampur, Dharamsala and Jaisinghpur.

Labour crunch, no ready market key issues

• Nearly 5,900 growers cultivate tea in Kangra, Mandi, Chamba
• Landholding of 96 per cent of growers less than 0.5 hectare
• Lack of labour and marker, low yield, high cost other key issues
• Dept plans to give one lakh plants, 50% subsidy on machinery

As per a survey, at least 2,311 hectare is under tea cultivation, of which 1,096 hectare is well-maintained and the remaining 1,215 hectare is abandoned. Nearly 5,900 growers cultivate tea in the Palampur, Baijnath, Dharamsala and Kangra areas of Kangra district, Jogindernagar and Karsog areas of Mandi district and Bhattiyat of Chamba. The landholding of 96 per cent of the growers is less than 0.5 hectare.

The average annual production is around 10 lakh kg, of which 4,000 kg tea is exported to the UK, Germany and France. Small tea growers contribute 59.2 per cent of the total production. There are four cooperative and 35 private tea units, which sell 90 per cent of the produce in Kolkata at an average price of Rs 160 per kg.

Despite this, tea cultivation in the hill state hasn’t shown encouraging results owing to small and scattered landholding, lack of labour, high labour cost, low yield, high production cost and lack of market. The tea auction centre in Kolkata is far away and involves high transportation cost.

The department has now brought additional nine hectares of land under tea cultivation and revived 7-8 hectare by gap filling since 2021, said BR Takhi, Director, Agriculture, adding that the department had set a target to distribute one lakh plants this year, of which 40,525 had been distributed in five circles of Baijnath, Bhawarna, Bir, Panchrukhi and Dharamsala.

“We are providing plants to farmers at Rs 2 per plant on the doorstep. We plan to give 50 per cent subsidy on tea machinery and pruning machines to overcome labour problem,” he added.

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