Summary:
A bid to procure tea from Coonoor auction centre by the defence ministry will also be mooted,” said B Kumaran Udhagamandalam: A team of small tea farmers in the Nilgiris to be formed to submit a report on issues faced by cultivators to vice-chairman of Tea Board of India every month.The decision was taken at a function organized by the Nilgiri Tribal Solidarity (NTS) on Saturday to felicitate the newly elected vice-chairman B Kumaran, a native of the Nilgiris.The meeting observed that most of the subsidies meant for green-leaf tea growers go to big estate owners. Within two to three months, the issue will be settled by talking directly to the commerce ministry. “The 60,000 families of small tea growers have been demanding for a minimum support price for green-leaf tea for the past three decades, but in vain,” said president of NTS Prof T M Kullan.A committee comprising small tea growers from all the regions of the Nilgiris will meet every month and prepare a report based on the price fetched for green-leaf tea as well as the traders’ auction price and submit it to the vice-chairman, said farmers“The traders at the auction centres keep the price for green-leaf tea lower than the cost price..