What Happened
- Industry experts have emphasised that capacity-building of small tea growers and Bought Leaf Factories (BLFs) is essential to improve productivity, quality, and sustainability in India's tea sector.
- A recent industry initiative in Assam's Golaghat district engaged 256 small tea growers and BLF representatives, focusing on three core areas: improving green leaf quality, mitigating Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) challenges, and promoting regenerative agriculture practices.
- Practical training covered pruning cycles, plucking standards, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and non-chemical pest control methods, alongside soil health management for climate resilience.
- Small tea growers now contribute approximately 56.6% of India's total tea production (776.58 million kg out of 1,369.98 million kg in 2025), making their capacity building a sector-wide imperative.
Static Topic Bridges
India's Tea Industry -- Structure and Regulatory Framework
India is the world's second-largest tea producer (after China) and the fourth-largest exporter. The tea sector is regulated by the Tea Board of India, established under the Tea Act, 1953, functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The industry has two segments: large estate plantations (organised sector) and small tea growers (STGs) who sell green leaf to Bought Leaf Factories (BLFs) for processing. The shift from estate-dominated to STG-dominated production is a structural transformation of the past two decades.
- Tea Board of India: statutory body under Tea Act, 1953; headquartered in Kolkata
- India's tea production (2025): 1,369.98 million kg (up approximately 5% from 2024)
- Small tea grower contribution: 56.6% of total production (776.58 million kg)
- Major producing states: Assam (approximately 50% of India's output), West Bengal (Darjeeling and Dooars), Tamil Nadu (Nilgiris), Kerala, Karnataka, Tripura
- Assam production (2025): 687.76 million kg; small grower share in Assam: approximately 49.8%
- Bought Leaf Factories (BLFs): privately owned processing units that purchase green leaf from STGs; they do not own tea gardens
- India's tea exports: approximately 200 million kg annually; key markets include CIS countries, Iran, UAE, UK, and the US
Connection to this news: With small growers now producing more than half of India's tea, their adoption of quality and sustainability practices directly determines the sector's competitiveness in both domestic and export markets, making capacity-building programmes a critical sector intervention.
Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) and Global Market Access
Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) are the maximum permissible levels of pesticide residues in food products, set by importing countries to ensure food safety. The EU, Japan, and other major tea importers have progressively tightened MRLs, leading to rejection of consignments that exceed limits. For Indian tea, MRL compliance is a significant market access challenge, particularly for small growers who may lack awareness of permissible pesticide usage.
- Codex Alimentarius Commission (under FAO/WHO) sets international MRL standards; individual countries may set stricter limits
- EU has among the strictest MRLs for tea: many pesticides set at the default limit of 0.01 mg/kg
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) sets domestic MRLs under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations
- FSSAI Order, 2020 mandated MRL compliance for tea sold domestically
- Key concern: small growers often use pesticides without adequate knowledge of withdrawal periods and dosage, leading to MRL exceedances
- Tea Board's Plant Protection Code provides guidelines for safe pesticide use in tea cultivation
- Integrated Pest Management (IPM) -- combining biological control, cultural practices, and targeted chemical use -- is recommended as an alternative to heavy pesticide reliance
Connection to this news: The focus on MRL mitigation in the capacity-building programme directly addresses India's market access vulnerability -- non-compliance with importing countries' MRL standards results in consignment rejections and reputational damage, threatening export competitiveness.
Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farming approach that focuses on restoring soil health, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, and enhancing ecosystem services. Unlike conventional agriculture (which may deplete soil over time), regenerative practices aim to build soil organic carbon, reduce external input dependency, and improve farm resilience to climate variability. Key practices include cover cropping, minimal tillage, composting, agroforestry, and crop rotation.
- Core principles: minimise soil disturbance, maintain soil cover, diversify plant species, integrate livestock where possible, minimise synthetic inputs
- Soil organic carbon (SOC) improvement: regenerative practices can increase SOC by 0.1-1% over 5-10 years, improving water retention and nutrient cycling
- Climate resilience: improved soil structure and microbial diversity reduce vulnerability to drought, flooding, and temperature extremes
- India context: degraded soils affect approximately 30% of total geographical area (as per Indian Council of Agricultural Research); soil health cards under Soil Health Management scheme (launched 2015) provide nutrient recommendations
- In tea: regenerative practices include shade tree management, green manuring, organic mulching, and biological pest control -- all relevant to maintaining long-term bush productivity
- Connection to carbon credits: regenerative farms can potentially generate soil carbon credits under voluntary carbon markets
Connection to this news: The emphasis on regenerative agriculture in the tea grower training programme reflects a shift from yield-maximisation to sustainability-oriented farming, aligning with both global buyer expectations and India's commitments to climate-resilient agriculture.
Key Facts & Data
- India's tea production (2025): 1,369.98 million kg
- Small tea grower share: 56.6% of total production
- Assam's tea production (2025): 687.76 million kg (approximately 50% of India)
- Small grower share in Assam: approximately 49.8%
- Tea Board of India: established under Tea Act, 1953 (Ministry of Commerce and Industry)
- India is the world's second-largest tea producer and fourth-largest exporter
- Annual exports: approximately 200 million kg
- EU default MRL for many pesticides on tea: 0.01 mg/kg
- Degraded soils in India: approximately 30% of total geographical area (ICAR estimate)
- Golaghat training: 256 small tea growers and BLFs participated