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Problems and Prospects of Small Tea Growers in Assam: With Special Reference to Goalpara District
Subject area: Management and Commerce · Area of research: Economics
Abstract
Small Tea Growers (STGs) have emerged as a major and transformative segment of Assam?s tea economy since the 1990s, contributing significantly to production, rural employment, and livelihood diversification. Yet STGs face multiple structural, institutional, and market challenges?limited access to quality planting material, credit and extension, weak linkages to processing facilities, price vulnerability, land-tenure and labour constraints, and inadequate market information and organization. This paper synthesizes secondary data and literature (up to 2020) to examine the problems that constrain STGs in Assam, and discusses prospects and policy/intervention measures, with a focused contextualisation for Goalpara district where small holdings and bought-leaf interactions present particular bottlenecks. Using government statistics, Tea Board/sectoral reports, and academic studies, the paper outlines an evidence-based policy and action agenda to enhance STG productivity, quality, and market participation.
Keywords
Small Tea Growers, Assam, Goalpara, bought-leaf factories, marketing, livelihoods, tea policy
How to cite this paper
@article{1710162,
author = {Tapan Kakati},
title = {Problems and Prospects of Small Tea Growers in Assam: With Special Reference to Goalpara District},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2021},
volume = {4},
number = {11},
pages = {524-527},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1710162.pdf},
abstract = {Small Tea Growers (STGs) have emerged as a major and transformative segment of Assam?s tea economy since the 1990s, contributing significantly to production, rural employment, and livelihood diversification. Yet STGs face multiple structural, institutional, and market challenges?limited access to quality planting material, credit and extension, weak linkages to processing facilities, price vulnerability, land-tenure and labour constraints, and inadequate market information and organization. This paper synthesizes secondary data and literature (up to 2020) to examine the problems that constrain STGs in Assam, and discusses prospects and policy/intervention measures, with a focused contextualisation for Goalpara district where small holdings and bought-leaf interactions present particular bottlenecks. Using government statistics, Tea Board/sectoral reports, and academic studies, the paper outlines an evidence-based policy and action agenda to enhance STG productivity, quality, and market participation.},
keywords = {Small Tea Growers, Assam, Goalpara, bought-leaf factories, marketing, livelihoods, tea policy},
month = {May},
}