ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATIONS AND SMALL TEA GROWERS (STGs) IN INDIA

Abstract

Small tea plantations were in vogue in India since early 1960s. They were mainly concentrated in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. It was only during the late 1980s or early 1990s they started spreading to North-Eastern states such as Assam and West Bengal. The smallholders are unorganized and operate in fragmented landholdings. They face challenges of landownership regulations and related procedural problems. Technical know-how on tea husbandry and cultivation is very low and the integration of this unorganised sector with the plantation industry seems to be a challenging task. At present various agencies such as Smallholders Associations, Primary Producing Societies (SHGs), Bought-Leaf Factories (BLFs), and Co-operative Factories (CPFs) exist in the 15 small tea growing states. However, most of these agencies are found to be ineffective due to the lack of proper co-ordination and collective action in an integrated manner. By analysing organisational innovations like BLFs, CPFs, SHGs, Federations-Associations-Confederations against the back drop of the emergence of Small Tea Growers (STGs) and their national and regional growth pattern, the present study try to identify the gaps in the existing policies and suggests new areas of research.