Tea farmers submit memo on Tea Day

RSS

ILAM: Coinciding with the 14th Tea Day, the tea farmers in Ilam district have submitted a memorandum to the Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Nathu Prasad Chaudhari here on Thursday.

Among other things, the memorandum calls for adjusting the price of green leaf tea through talks between the farmers and the government, providing compensation to farmers for the loss they incurred due to the strike by tea estate workers, giving 50 per cent subsidy on fertilizers, insecticide and sprayers and other implements used in tea production, formulating policies so as to attract small farmers to tea farming and rethinking the present interest rate on loans to tea farmers.

The Tea Day commemorates the beginning of tea cultivation in Ilam district some 148 years back.

Meanwhile, six leading tea farmers and three tea industries and entrepreneurs were honoured for producing quality organic tea amidst a programme organised by the National Tea and Coffee Development Board in collaboration with the Central Tea Cooperatives Association.

There are 124 tea gardens and 40 tea processing and production plants in Nepal. More than 40,000 workers are employed in tea gardens and tea processing factories in different districts of east Nepal, including Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar, Dhankuta and Terhathum.