SILIGURI, 1 AUG: To obtain detailed reports on tea plantations and the exact number of working small tea planters in north Bengal, the Tea Board of India has asked the state's land and land reforms department to conduct a thorough survey in this region.
Tea Board of India (TBI) is all set to introduce an exclusive Assam logo in the line of ISI mark to ensure that only quality Assam CTC tea enter the export market.
The Assam logo would be introduced to put in place stringent quality mechanism system for the export market where Assam tea is facing stiff competition from those produced in Kenya and Sri Lanka.
To improve the quality of Assam tea, the Consul General of US to India, Beth A Payne has underscored the need for carrying out a joint research by engaging the experts of both the US and the State.
With focus changing from quantity to quality tea production, Tocklai Experimental Station (TES) of Tea Research Association (TRA), is in the advance stage of developing four clones.
Though Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, in his budget, gave certain benefits to the tea industry, the associations representing the industry are disappointed with the budget and they feel that the budget would benefit only a handful of bog gardens.
