Dibrugarh: Hundreds of small tea growers gathered in front of the Charaideo DC’s office on Tuesday, voicing their anger over drastically reduced prices for green tea leaves that have left many struggling to sustain their operations.The protesters alleged that bought leaf factories (BLFs) in the district have been systematically cutting prices for green tea leaves, with rates plummeting from a peak of Rs 52 per kg to a mere Rs 18 per kg. This dramatic price reduction has pushed many small-scale tea cultivators to the brink of financial ruin.“We are being forced to sell at a loss. The cost of producing one kilogram of green tea leaves ranges from Rs 25 to Rs 27, but we’re only getting Rs 18. How can we survive with such margins?” said Debananda Gogoi, a representative of the protesting tea growers.The pricing crisis has particularly impacted unemployed educated youth who turned to small-scale tea cultivation as a livelihood option. Many of these entrepreneurs invested their savings in tea gardens, only to find themselves unable to meet basic operational costs.“We thought tea cultivation would provide us with sustainable employment, but now we cannot even pay wages to our workers. Buying fertilisers and pesticides has become impossible with these prices,” said Amit Borah, a young tea grower who started his plantation three years ago.The protesters demanded immediate intervention from district authorities to ensure fair pricing mechanisms and protection of local growers from what they termed “predatory pricing practices” by bought leaf factories. They called for regulations that would prevent factories from using interstate sourcing as a tool to suppress local prices.“We asking for fair compensation for our hard work and investment. The govt must step in to ensure the rights of small tea growers,” Gogoi added.
