KOREASCHOLAR

The small tea growers (STGs) constitute a significant part of the tea industries in several tea producing countries in the world. STGs constitute 70 percent of the tea cultivation by area and 60 percent of the total tea production by volume. However, low profitability, limited marketing options, inefficient supply chain, and dependency on the large tea estates for processing has emerged as a serious threat to the sustainability of the STGs. Mostly, the STG’s role in the tea supply chain is confined merely to the cultivation of the tea leaves. In India too, the STGs are confronted with similar challenges. India is the second-largest tea producer in the world with about 50 percent of the total tea production coming from the STGs. Notably, considering the economic and environmental benefits, some of the STGs have taken to organic cultivation of tea. Further, some of them who adopted organic cultivation also took to processing and marketing of made tea like hand-made green tea, black tea, and other specialty products by themselves. This study seeks to understand and analyze the role of organic cultivation in providing market linkages and the development of value chain(s) for the STGs. The study was conducted in the state of Assam, which is recognized worldwide for the presence of one of the oldest and the largest tea industries. It used a qualitative value chain approach to analyze the current situation of the STGs involved in the production of organic tea. The study mostly relied on primary data collected from the various actors of the emerging tea value chain through a semi-structured interview schedule, in-depth interviews, and focused group discussions. The processing and marketing of tea by the organic STGs in Assam has indeed led to the development of tea value chain(s) for the STGs. Adoption of sustainable agriculture systems like organic cultivation has opened up new opportunities for the STGs to earn from tea processing and marketing by themselves. Although such developments are in a very initial stage, understandings from the present scenario add to the literature on the development of value chain and market linkages for the smallholders in the tea sector with implications for other agricultural sectors as well. Encouraging the STGs to produce orthodox tea products, especially green and black tea varieties, in larger quantity by mobilizing them for collective actions is likely to locate them in the global tea value chain. The study suggests such suitable policy measures to bring about transformations in the tea sub-sector. Appropriate institutional changes to develop sustainable tea value chain(s) controlled by the STGs would be the key to impart overall sustainability to the industry. Such developments are likely to help the tea industry in Assam and other tea producing regions to meet the changing consumer aspirations and sustain global competition.

• Nabajyoti Deka(Indian Institute of Technology, India) Corresponding author
• Kharagpur(Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India)