New measures to upgrade Assam’s BLFs, STGs

The Assam government has come up with around 10 new measures for upgrading bought leaf factories (BLFs) and small tea growers (STGs) in the state. This step has been taken following instances of the deteriorating quality of tea being produced in Assam.

Certain policy shortcomings have been contributing to the worsening quality of tea. Pradyut Bordoloi, industry minister of Assam feels that the government, along with STGs and BLFs, need to collaborate to resolve the issues and adopt measures for improvement.

Bordoloi headed an eight member delegation that had recently visited Kenya to understand the Kenyan model of tea production. Small tea growers account for 60% of the total tea production in Kenya. The junket comprised delegates from the All Assam Small Tea Growers Association (AASTGA) as well as members from the BLFs.ordoloi declared that the government of Assam had initiated the process of identifying the catchment areas, approximately 250 hectares in area, for each BLF. BLFs would be strictly instructed to source green leaves from the catchment area.

The government further intends to curb "irrational" and "unauthorised" BLFs from mushrooming in Assam. At present, around 200 BLFs are registered in the state.The government also proposes to ensure that the Tocklai Tea Research Association provides its services to STGs for a nominal amount. STGs had been hitherto unable to afford these services.

The state may also play a stronger role to control the "indiscriminate" use of sowing materials and purchase of green leaves by organised sectors.

All STGs would be duty-bound to provide green leaves to BLFs thrice daily during peak season and twice a day during lean periods. This would ensure that fresh leaves reach the factory without delay for immediate processing.The government is also considering a grading system for the Assamese tea industry, to be undertaken by an independent grading agency. All tea factories would receive certification grades ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ based on the quality of tea they produced.

In addition to these measures, the Assam government has settled on offering land 'pattas' to all STGs who currently farm on government land.

Assam contributes 55% to the country’s total tea production. As recently as 15 years back, the role of STGs in the production of tea in Assam was quite insignificant. However, today, STGs contribute almost 29% of tea produced in Assam.

Courtesy : http://www.tfpjonline.com/

Seafood retail outlets to get government grants

The Union Government has declared that it will offer financial support for modernising seafood retail units in the domestic markets. The main reason for the subsidy was to ensure the establishment of essential infrastructure required to set up hygienic wholesale markets.

Mr P Krishniah, Chief Executive, National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) stated that a 20% to 25% extension has been planned on the existing subsidy on capital infrastructure. This would be utilised for upgrading or setting up new outlets that adhered to certain sanitation criteria.

The subsidy scheme would include large outlets that had an investment of up to Rs 1 crore, medium size outlets with overheads up to Rs 50 lakh and small units that had an outlay of Rs 10 lakh. As far as wholesale fish markets were concerned, the NFDB intends to offer grants for modernisation.

The Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation is setting up a Rs 2 crore state-of-the-art wholesale seafood market in Coimbatore. According to sources Rs 75 lakh have already been issued towards this project that is to be fully funded by the NFDB. Similar projects to be subsidised by NFDB are being planned in other localities such as Saidapet (in Chennai) and Vellore.

In addition to this, the State Fisheries Department is also in the process of launching a minimum of 100 new seafood retail outlets across the state. This development, which will also have the financial support of the NFDB, will be undertaken in phases.

A Joseb Raj, the Managing Director of the Oceanaa Group, which owns a modern seafood retail chain comprising four outlets under the brand Fish ’n Fresh, has spoken about the convenience of shopping at such retail units. According to Mr Raj, these units attract customers by offering a clean, sanitised, odour-free shopping environment, enhanced by transparent dealings and electronic weighing scales that make shopping a pleasurable experience.

Courtesy : http://www.tfpjonline.com/