Guwahati: For the month of June, the minimum price for green tea leaves paid by manufacturing facilities to small tea producers in Jorhat has been set at Rs 25.

This was resolved during a meeting on June 6 attended by representatives of the small tea farmers' organisation, the North Eastern Tea Association, the Tea Association of India, and the All Assam Small Tea Growers Association. The meeting was hosted by the Tea Board's Regional Office in Jorhat.

It was agreed that no greater maximum limit for green leaf would be set and that the acceptable grade of the leaf (fine leaf %) would be chosen by individual production units in accordance with existing recommendations.

Jiban Saikia, president of the All Assam Small Tea Farmers Association, and members of other small tea growers associations voiced worry over the low price garnered by second flush green leaf because teas manufactured during this period command the highest market prices. Concerns were voiced by several manufacturing units about the frequent and arbitrary changes in green leaf pricing, the lack of programmes to create knowledge about the Plant Protection Code (PPC), and plant protection measures among small tea producers.