The Tea Board of India on Friday constituted an 11-member committee to find out the reasons for the deterioration in the quality of green tea leaves, an issue that was flagged by a section of stakeholders in the industry.

They have also pointed out that the decline in the quality of tea leaves eventually leads to lower price realisation.

“The committee has been formed for threadbare examination of the reasons behind the deteriorating quality of green tea leaves day by day and to suggest necessary measures to improve the quality,” said a source in the Tea Board.

The decision, sources said, was taken at a recent meeting of the board. On Friday, the committee comprising representatives of small tea growers, bought-leaf factories, tea estates and an official of the board was announced by the board's secretary Rishikesh Rai.

The quality of tea leaves had always been an issue, especially in the small tea sector.

On one hand, the small tea growers have complained that bought-leaf factories (standalone factories that buy leaves from them) are not paying them proper prices. The BLF owners, on the other hand, claimed that the tea leaves sent to them often didn’t match the required quality.

Last week, the growers in north Bengal said they were selling one kilo of tea leaves at Rs 15-18 while the cost of production was around Rs 20.

Veterans associated with the sector said the Tea Board had said earlier that the fine leaf count (two leaves and a bud) should constitute 65 per cent of any given amount of tea leaves.

However, at a meeting between small growers and BLFs in Assam in 2021, it was decided that the minimum fine leaf count should be 40 per cent.

The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.

Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the president of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations, is a member of the committee. He expressed the hope that the committee would be able to recommend remedial measures for quality improvement.