North Bengal Tea Industry
North Bengal Tea producing areas include district of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and North Dinajpur.
North Bengal has about 450 tea gardens spread out in the Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars region that are registered as sellers in the Siliguri Tea Auction Centre. The youngest tea gardens are Chinchula Tea Estate,Raimatang Tea Estate and Kalchini Tea Estate all of which are 72 years old. The largest tea garden is Samsing Tea Estate of 1256.60 hectares.
With about 3.5 lakh permanent workers and 52% of the workforce in these gardens is female. It is estimated that more than 2,500,000 people are dependent on the tea industry in the region. Tea is one of the surviving industry other than Tourism in North Bengal.
The land for the plantations is Government land and is given in lease to the employers. Each lease has to be renewed after 30 years, and is subject to the condition that the land will be used for tea production alone.
History
Tea cultivation in the North Bengal had started off about 120 to 150 years ago in Dooars region. In the year 1840 tea was planted in Darjeeling district and its surrounding area in North Bengal.
Small tea growers
Small tea growers are largely concentrated in North Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and at the foothills of Darjeeling hills.
There are 30,000 such small tea growers in North Bengal and total production is around 91 million kg, which is almost 32.5% of North Bengal's tea production of 280 million kg.
Bought-leaf factories are units that buy these tea leaves and convert them into the processed tea. Generally, 6000 tea bushes can be planted in an acre of plot. These 6,000 bushes can produce 10,000 kg of green leaf. The cost of production varies between Rs 8.50 - Rs 10.50 per kg.[1]
Tea production in North Bengal
| Region | January to September Year 2011 / 2012 | October Year 2011 / 2012 | January Up-To October Year 2011 / 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darjeeling | 7.9 / 7.8 Mkg | 0.9 / 0.8 Mkg | 8.8 / 8.6 Mkg |
| Dooars | 116.6 / 111.5 Mkg | 19.1 / 18.2 Mkg | 135.7 / 129.7 Mkg |
| Terai | 63.3 / 68.7 Mkg | 13.8 / 12.3 Mkg | 77.1 / 81.0 Mkg |
| Total | 187.8 / 188.00 Mkg | 33.8 / 31.3 Mkg | 221.6 / 219.3 Mkg |
Siliguri Tea Auction Centre
Siliguri Tea Auction Centre was established in the year 1976 for the better marketing facility of the local tea products. This tea auction centre has immensely reduced the travel time of tea growers of North Bengal to market the end product at this centre either wise this tea growers had to market them at Guwahati Tea Auction centre which is about 500 km from Siliguri.[3]
Incidents
- "Cold weather clouds tea crop prospects in Assam, Bengal". The Hindu. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
- "Tea output declines 4% to 129.68 million kg in Oct". Money Control. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
- "Tea workers' bandh affects life in North Bengal". Zee News Times. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
References
- ↑ "Bengal entrepreneurs look at tea production as a source of income". Economic Times. Retrieved 2011-12-07.
- ↑ "Tea Production". Siliguri Tea Auction Centre. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
- ↑ Social Science and Social Concern. Google Books. Retrieved 2013-06-03.