More workforce would be engaged to ensure quality plucking of the green leaf from tea estates, to ensure better prices for all stakeholders, the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) said on Sunday.
The TTDC Chairman Santosh Saha said, "We are going to provide utmost care to ensure quality plucking of green leaf from the tea estates as this is an area where a lot of work needs to be done. Currently, plucking of tea leaves takes 10 to 15 days due to an acute shortage of experienced tea pluckers".
He added that "It should be 7 to 8 days if one wants to collect quality leaves. More workforce will be engaged in tea plucking in the coming session 2022-23 for producing quality tea".
Saying that a mini green tea-making factory had already been set up with the help of the North East Council (NEC), Saha further added that the TTDC was also focusing on setting up modern tea processing factories in the state.
Notably, two detailed project reports of around ₹11.20 crore have been sent to NEC for modernization of existing tea processing units at Durgabari and Brahmakuna tea estates.
The chairman also talked about exporting Tea to Bangladesh, saying, "We are trying to access the Bangladesh tea auction centre situated at Srimangal in Sylhet district, which is near the Kamalpur sub-division of the Dhalai district. It will be a game-changer for the state if we get the facility".
Chairman Saha also pointed out that the state's produce had increased despite the Covid-19 outbreak, registering 4.45 lakh kg in 2020, compared to just 1.72 lakh kg in 2017.
Meanwhile, poor plucking is believed to be the reason behind the state's produce falling behind, averaging around ₹200 per kg. TTDC wants to increase it to more than ₹300 per kg, he said.
