Sustainable Livelihood for Small Tea Growers through CSR
Floor Prices at Gardens There is no uniform quality checking system either in the gardens or at BLFs. Discussions with various small tea growers reveal that they are not ready or capable of adhering to any quality standards. As their leaf is inferior when measured against the set standards, it pushes the price of entire green leaf of the same agent downwards. This problem is mainly seen in some regions in Kerala and Assam. The institutional set up at PDS in Kerala and TEAMAFCO in Assam have their own consortiums and measure the quality of leaf based on their own standards. The price systems that they follow do not affect the price of green leaf at individual levels. Occasionally the consortium fails to check the quality of leaf and gives low prices to the growers. Though associations in certain regions insist that the Tea Board/ government should adopt strict measures to sell tea only through auction centres, none of them have strongly negotiated with any of the BLF owners near them. A majority of small growers and associations are unaware of the proportion of tea sold through auctions and direct sale from the BLFs. They are however told that their tea fetched lower prices at auction, and therefore get paid at the lower prices. Some brokers have noted that BLFs benefit even when prices at auctions are low, as their production costs are low. BLFs always sell their best teas directly in the market, and are able to command a premium. Price Mechanism at Auctions Auctions have traditionally been the main platforms or primary marketing of tea in India and serve as the principal price determining mechanism for tea in the country. The auction system is governed or strongly regulated by provisions of the Tea Marketing Control Order (TMCO), 1984.6 The sale and determining of prices takes place as a result of the interaction and inherent negotiations by various stakeholders. It is also a system of participation by various stakeholders i.e. producers, brokers, warehouse keepers and buyers.7 Several associations demand that there should be a minimum floor price at auction centres. But its implementation is questionable as buyers bid for tea based on quality. If there is price fixed as floor price, it might affect the auction system itself. Tea is also available directly. Auction sales in India are lowest at 53.3 per cent after Indonesia (34 per cent); Bangladesh (96.9 per cent) and Sri Lanka (91.3 per cent) who sell a majority 78