Value Chain Analysis of Organic Tea: Dibrugarh district of Assam

Assam’s biggest contribution to the world is Tea. A new dimension of tea cultivation in Assam is shifting of the small tea growers towards organic tea cultivation. Quality organic orthodox tea is fetching good price in the international market. However, an ideal value chain system is prime need to percolate this increased benefit to the grass to the growers. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate value chain of organic orthodox tea in Dibrugarh district of Assam. The study was based on primary data collected from 60 organic tea growers as well as secondary data from various published and unpublished sources. The study showed that the ownership of organic tea cultivation was male dominated. Most of the growers were young and well educated. They were skilled in organic tea cultivation with long service experiences. The average per farm area under tea cultivation was 1.33 hectares of which 0.96 hectare was under organic tea cultivation. The yield of tea leaves per hectare was 11250kg for organic tea and 16500 kg for in-organic tea. The average price realized by the growers for organic tea (Rs. 35.00/kg) was more than double as compared to inorganic tea. The net return from organic tea cultivation (Rs. 293675.00/ha) was more than in-organic tea cultivation (Rs. 103175.00/ha). Most of the growers processed their own tea leaves and sold it locally. Almost 90 percent of orthodox tea produced in the study area was sold in the local and national market and only 10 percent was exported to abroad. The prevailing marketing system in the study area for organic tea was not an efficient system as only 20 percent of produces moved through the most efficient channel and the highest quantity of produces (45%) moved through the least efficient channel. The major problems faced by the market intermediates were lack of proper transportation and poor infrastructure which caused a delay in the supply of the order. There is tremendous scope to enhance the income of organic tea grower’s through an efficient value chain system.