Asian Tea Alliance | Burning Issues

Table of Contents

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

Indian Tea Association, China Tea Marketing Association, Indonesian Tea Marketing Association, Sri Lanka Tea Board and Japan Tea Association- the five bodies from five tea growing and consuming countries in Asia- have now come forward to form what is called The Asian Tea Alliance (ATA).
The alliance was launched at Guizhou in Chin

“We have planned to work together to enhance tea trade, cultural exchange, technology exchange, global promotion of tea, enhancing global consumption of tea and creating a sustainability agenda for the future of Asian tea,”
One of the main issues haunting the tea sector was low prices.
Industry officials have been voicing concerns over sustainability of the industry due to low prices, which are not remunerative enough.

Costs continue to increase, rise in prices has been marginal. In the last five years, the compound annual growth rate of input costs has been around 11 per cent but the corresponding growth in tea prices has been below 2 per cent.
Rising wages was another concern and if prices of tea do not rise substantially to meet the cost of production, the industry would not at all be viable to operate.

The Assam government has constituted the Minimum Wage Advisory Board to fix a minimum wage for the tea workers.
Meanwhile, the government has notified an interim increase of Rs 30 per day in the wage, pursuant to which workers’ wage in the Brahmaputra Valley is at present Rs 167 per day

Assam produces half of India’s tea and West Bengal less than a third.
South India accounts for only 18% of India’s tea production, but the Nilgiris has lately gained a reputation for making good premium teas

Assam has the largest area under tea plantations among all states in India, this is so because:

Tea Grows in moderately hot and humid climate with ambient temperatures ranging between 13-28˚C, above 32˚C is disastrous for tea.
Tea grows better on sloping topography which leaves no room for water to stagnate
Acidic Soil with around 4.5-5.5 pH is most suitable for Tea
Assam’s Dibrugarh, Nowgong, Sibsagar, Karbi Anlong , North Cacher and Bodoland districts provide the necessary drainage-oriented topography, temperature and humidity necessary for tea

Total Tea exports stood at US$ 837.33 million in 2017-18, as compared to US$ 731.25 million during the previous year. Between Apr-Oct 2018, tea exports have reached US$ 463.95 million.
Between Apr-Oct 2018, major importers of Indian tea were Russia (US$ 64.14 million), Iran (US$ 57.63 million), US (US$ 34.90 million), UK (US$ 34.31 million) and UAE (US$ 30.15 million).