Daily Nation, Kenya

Story by TOM MATOKE and SOLLO KIRAGU

Hundreds of tea farmers in Nandi South District yesterday demonstrated against a marketing agency’s failure to collect leaf from buying centres on time.

The farmers, who carried twigs and placards, held a peaceful demonstration from Lessos division and marched to the Nandi South district commissioner’s office, where they were addressed by the acting DC, Ms Rodah Onyancha.

The farmers claimed that they had incurred huge losses as a result of non collection of tea leaves from buying centres by Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) in the past one week.

As a result, they had not plucked tea from their farms, which had led to further losses.

The growers blamed the management and directors of Chebut KTDA Factory in Kapsabet for not responding to their pleas to solve the crisis.

Trouble started at Lessos collection centre a week ago when a tea buying clerk and a KTDA lorry driver were confronted by the growers over delays in collection.

The farmers appealed for Agriculture minister Kipruto Kirwa’s intervention.

Earlier this month, the district asked KTDA to allow them to pluck tea daily, saying that the three times a week allowed was not enough because the tea bushes were growing fast.

But KTDA director for Chebut, Mr Paul Tiongik, said the factory was congested.

A second factory would be built at Kaptumo trading centre at a cost of Sh350 million, he said.

Tea growers in Kericho, Bureti, Sotik and Bomet yesterday asked the Government to legalise hawking of leaf. 

The growers said the law that barred tea leaf hawking was outdated and colonial.

“Most of our tea is going to waste as the current factories cannot cope with the high yield of the crop and the only way out is tea hawking,” said Mr Joel Chepkwony.

The farmers were addressing a task force comprising KTDA and Tea Board of Kenya members at the Kipsigis County Council hall in Kericho. The team is seeking ways of improving the industry.

Delays in payment and exploitation by KTDA were some of the main problems the farmers complained of.

They also asked the Tea board to allow the construction of more private tea factories to crush surplus leaf.

Colombo Page – Colombo, Sri Lanka

Jan 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka is to benefit from supporting Russia to obtain the membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as Russia is to scrap a 5% import duty on loose tea within a year after it joins the WTO.

The scrap is due under an agreement Russia engaged with Sri Lanka to obtain the island nation’s support for Russia’s 13 year long WTO bid.

The import duty on packaged tea is also to be lowered to 12.5% from 20% within four years of Russia’s WTO entry, according to the agreement. Tea amounts 96% of Sri Lanka’s exports to Russia. Sri Lanka is one of Russia’s major black tea importers.

Sunday Times.lk – Columbo, Sri Lanka

By Sunil Karunanayake

The tea sector exerts a significant influence on the economy, and despite many setbacks such as the Land Reform process of the early 70’s which virtually drove local expertise out of the country and in turn affected the plantations and the troubled times of 87/89 where many tea factories were burnt down, the industry still continued to grow within a stressful environment.

Still, deficiencies in the fiscal administration have caused enormous cash flow problems in the tea sector in recent times. The exemption of VAT to producers and much delayed refunds to the export sector and the innovative Economic Service charge (fortunately the original rate of 1 percent introduced in 2004 has now been reduced to a moderate .25 percent) are a few examples.

The increasing security issues have necessitated strict measures to be imposed at the point of export. However the most disturbing has been the damage caused by recent strikes by the Plantation employees.

The strike caused an immense loss to workers, plantation companies and the national economy. An unattended Tea bush creates many issues and the period of near four weeks inactivity gave rise to a vicious circle of losses. Due to the limitation of auction quantities prices rose to unrealistic heights thus compelling exporters to pay a higher price for contracted orders, this no doubt put many exporters into financial difficulties.

Commenting on the outlook for 2007, Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers forecast a strong demand for “Good quality Tea” in the first quarter and year as a whole held good promise for attractive prices for good teas. The shortage of Teas is attributed to Kenyan crop limitations during this period and of course the damage to both quality and quantity of Sri Lankan Teas, this comes amidst steady oil prices from the Arab world a major Tea importer from Sri Lanka. However in the likely scenario of quality and quantity deficiencies Sri Lanka will once again let opportunities go begging.

As much as the owners and the employees, Trade Unions too are an important stake holder. There seems to be mistaken belief that the Trade Unions task is to encourage work stoppages thus causing losses both to he organization as well as to its employees. It is unfortunate some Trade unions view employee grievances as opportunities to expand their political power. Trade Union hierarchies as responsible citizens must sit back and analyze the losses caused by unwarranted work stoppages. Strike should be the last weapon when all the negotiations have failed, as seen in the Plantation strike real losers were the poor workers and the National economy even though plantation companies too took some beating. Tea is a global product competing in a fiercely competitive market and our losses may well be the stepping stones for the competitors.

Meanwhile the crisis at the Tea Board continues adding fuel to the fire of the tea sector, with the ex -Chairman still wielding influence over the Tea Board Administration. Plantations Ministry once manned by then powerful ministers such as Dr Colvin R de Silva, Hector Kobbekaduwa, Montague Jayawickrema Gamini Dissanayake and present Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake is no longer in the cabinet category thus taking away the sting & the power attached.

Today Tea Board is in a paralyzed state due to the ongoing litigations posing many threats to the viability of the industry. The much prioritized HACCP implementation in the factories are held up as Tea board cannot release funds, the very purpose of the increase in Tea Board Cess in April 2006 to provide for the Tea factory modernization is at a standstill and the promotional programs are in total disarray. In a dynamic competitive global environment none of these activities could be postponed and the present inactivity will go down the history as yet another major set back to the Tea sector. It is needless to say that these are matters of grave national importance that needs the attention at the highest levels of the executive.

Financial Express – Bombay, India 

KOCHI, JAN 28:  The South Indian tea industry has enough reasons to be satisfied with prices registering a 19.5% rise during the 51 auctions held last year at the three centres and more significantly, the trend is continuing. This was despite the slightly lower arrivals for the auctions.

The average price realisation from all these centres was Rs 50.31 per kg compared to Rs 42.11 per kg in 2005. Reflecting the lower production in the South, tea sold through the three auction centres – Kochi, Coonoor and Coimbatore – during the 51 auctions in 2006 was 1,19,760 tonne compared to 1,21,1761 tonne in 2005. Besides around 15,000 tonne was auctioned through the Teaserve centre in Coonoor. According to United Planters Association of South Indian (Upasi) provisional figures, the total tea production in the South was down to 2.25 lakh tonne in 2006 compared to 2.27 lakh tonne during 2005.

Incidentally, despite a lower arrival of the CTC variety compared to orthodox, the average price for the former increased by Rs 8.72 to Rs 50.07 a kg when the latter went up by Rs 6.03 to Rs 54.28 per kg. This, according to growers was in tune with the global situation of lower CTC production, especially in Kenya, which earlier in the year witnessed a severe drought.

Kochi continued to have the highest arrivals with 59,063 tonne of which CTC had a share of 47,818 tonne. The previous year’s total arrival was 60,316 tonne. The average price earned was Rs 54.41per kg compared to Rs 49.40 per kg the previous year.

During the year, the South had a substantial rise in exports, and as per figures available till November total shipments were 100.4 million kg up from 85.3 million kg in 2005. In comparison, exports from the North fell to 70.5 million kg from 82.9 million kg during the same period.

Coonoor followed Kochi with arrival of 37,392 tonne with CTC accounting for 34,657 tonne, up from 41,614 tonne in 2005. The average price increase was the highest there up to Rs 47.77 per kg from Rs 36.03 per kg in 2005.

In Coimbatore, the total arrival during 2006 was 23,303 tonne as against 19,830 tonne the previous year. The average price went up to Rs 49.38 per kg from 40.91 per kg. When all other centres had a fall in arrival of both orthodox and CTCs, the Coimbatore auction centre saw CTC arrivals go up to 20,897 tonne from 17,229 tonne in 2005.

Trade sources said that in the wake of substantial improvement in prices during the last few auctions of 2006 across the three centres, the trend was expected to continue for the next few weeks.

DailyIndia.com – Jacksonville, FL, USA

Siliguri, Jan 28 (ANI): The owners of the sick tea estate are pinning their hope on Centre’s rupees 4,761 crores Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) for bailing them out of the crisis.

The Government’s recent announcement of setting up of the special fund has rejuvenated the Indian Tea Association (ITA), which is keen on carrying out large-scale re-plantation activities.

“Large tracks of tea gardens including Terai require re-plantation. And the region, particularly north Bengal, has a large area, which is now 40-year-old and needs to be phased out,” said Monojit Dasgupta, Secretary General, Indian Tea Association.

During its recent 45th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the tea planters, held at Darjeeling recently, the tea planters expressed happiness over the Centre’s initiative.

“The Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF), through the loan component, will enable the tea estates to plan out their re-plantation activities going for a higher rate of re-plantation that has been achieved so far. This fund should be in a position to benefit large section of the tea industry,” added Dasgupta.

As per the fund, the tea estates will be able to access the fund as a loan component, which would be payable over a period of 12 years. The tea estates will get a subsidy of 25 per cent of the total cost of re-plantation.

Assam will have 46 per cent of the Special Purpose Tea Fund, whereas 28 per cent of the fund will be allocated to West Bengal. Tamil Nadu and Kerala will also get 22 per cent share of the fund.

The Tea Board will formulate the parameters of the schemes, which includes lending mechanism, repayment schedule, interest rate regime and modalities of inspection and administration of the fund.

Today, Assam produces more than half the tea grown in India. On the international market, Assam Tea can be identified by the official logo chosen by the Tea Board of India. Most Assam tea is sold through the Auction Centre at Guwahati.

Since the tea industry in Assam was established, most tea has been planted unselected by seed using the same practices as in the 19th century. The industry continued to grow slowly but steadily during the 20th century.

In the 1970s small-scale tea cultivators with farms smaller than one hectare began growing tea. Cultivation on small farms increased during the 1990s and today accounts for over 10 percent of the tea produced in Assam. Tea cultivation remains a vital industry in the region employing 17 percent of the workforce.

Recently, India’s tea industry has faced a crisis with prices dropping due to reduced exports and domestic consumption. However, Assam tea exports to the United States are expected to increase as more Americans are drinking tea and seeking tea of higher quality. (ANI)

DailyIndia.com – Jacksonville, FL, USA

Kangra, Jan.27 (ANI): While people in North India are beginning to relax a bit after a chilly winter, tea planters in the Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh are desperately waiting for rain.

The unusual dry spell has left tea planters here disappointed and without hope of enjoying a good harvest.

Kangri Tea is relished as a refreshing herbal beverage.

Some residents believe that the phenomenon of global warming is responsible for the lack of seasonal showers.

“Tea is totally dependent on the weather. The near drought conditions have affected Kangra tea badly,” claimed Devinder Pathania, a plantation owner.

Devinder warned that Kangra tea could become a non-entity in international market if there were no rains. Tea garden labourers too are a worried lot.

“If it doesn’t rain, the tea leaves will not grow, and we won’t get any work. Even our educated children are employed in this field, and if this drought continues, then they will not be able to work,” lamented Dilodevi, a tea plantation worker.

Tea planters trim and prune saplings around this time of the year, and are awaiting the rains to complete the cultivation process.

It takes 20-years for a normal yield to be achieved.The Kangra tea gardens cover about 2,300 hectares of land and employ over 12,000 persons.

The Kangra Valley is the only area where tea is grown in Himachal Pradesh. Its unique environment, protected by majestic Dhauladhars, contributes to the natural quality of this unique brand.

Tea plantation was introduced to the Kangra through a Chinese hybrid grown in Amoral by Dr. Jameson, Superintendent Botanical Gardens, North-West Frontier Province in 1849. Kangra tea has been internationally acclaimed since 1883. From the beginning, this has been exported to Europe, the Middle East and the Far East through the Calcutta Tea Auction Market.

The green teas of Kangra have long been popular in Central Asia. Today, there are over sixteen hundred large and small tea plantations in Kangra. The merits of green tea -like the Kangra variety – is being extolled throughout the world as a preventive of heart disease.(ANI)