Women growing handcrafted tea in Assam look forward to better production, branding

Englepathar (Assam), Mar 2 (PTI) Mina Tokbipi had been growing tea in her backyard in Assam's Karbi Anglong district and processing it by hand for family use for years but her life changed for the better following interventions to launch the tea as a branded product in an assured market.

Tokbipi said that after own consumption, her family used to sell the surplus tea to agents at nominal rates.

However, this changed in 2020 when biodiversity organisation 'Aaranyak' evolved a business model to ensure fair price to the growers, Firoz Ahmed, a scientist heading the livelihoods programme of the NGO in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong basin, told PTI.

"We found that most locally produced products, including tea, by small land-holding farmers in the basin were sold at throwaway prices to the middlemen. The locals were often exploited and they received a pittance for their toil," he said.

"It was decided that women in the area, who practised handcrafted tea production, will be trained as there was an exclusive market for it and our primary aim was to ensure that they got proper prices by branding the product," Ahmed said.

Following several meetings with women and local stakeholders, the NGO decided to train 19 women from 10 villages. However, at present, only four women in the three villages of Englepathar, Rongtara and Bakrung Engti are practising it, another 'Aaranyak' official, Jayanta Kumar Roy, who monitors the programme, said.

The production of handcrafted tea is not an easy task and maintaining its quality control is difficult with no two packages being the same, he said.

"Besides, it is a time-consuming process and women who are burdened with household chores were not too willing to take it up. However, the scenario changed marginally when they saw these four women earning respectable incomes," Roy added.

Tokbipi, who received training in the first batch, has now moved on to training more women and she hopes that more people will take it up in a concerted manner.

Another tea grower, Sika Terangpi, pointed out that earlier they used to hardly get any return from the tea sold to the middlemen.

Most of the women trained initially were not keen to take up handcrafted tea production but now they are eager to join after seeing that the others are getting good returns, she said.

The handcrafted tea produced by these women are being packaged and sold under the brand name 'Pirbi' at a store started by the biodiversity organisation.

"Making handcrafted teas is a delicate art requiring skill, patience, and dedication. From handpicking the tea leaves to rolling those by hand, each step is meticulously carried out to ensure the highest quality tea," North East Tea Association (NETA) advisor Bidyananda Barkakoty said.

Machine-made teas are preferred for their efficiency, consistency, and ability to be produced in large quantities, but handmade teas are sought-after for their unique flavours and exceptional quality, Ahmed said.

The fact that each batch of handcrafted tea is unique, as it cannot be replicated exactly in the same way, makes it even more exciting, adding to its value and appeal, he added.

"The process of preparing handcrafted tea is painstaking with the first step being the plucking of tender leaves, then subjecting those to heat to keep those from oxidising.

"Then, the leaves are gently hand rolled for drying, which we are planning to do in the near future with solar energy, and finally the leaves are crushed with the traditional Karbi mortar and pestle called 'Long' and 'Lengpun', respectively," Tokbipi explained.

The women are focusing on producing green, smoked, orthodox Roselle tea, she added.

Barkakoty pointed out that there is no authentic data available for handcrafted tea but as a conservative estimate, there are small production units of not more than 50 across Assam, with all of them producing small quantities with the annual production being not more than two lakh kg.

"Handcrafted tea, however, has a niche market in both domestic and international markets. There is an opportunity to grow as a cottage industry and help in the rural economy but the main challenge is marketing these teas in an organised manner," he said.

These small units are spread out over a huge geographical area, producing small quantities and with buyers finding it difficult to procure them in bulk.

"The solution is to form clusters so that there is a sizeable quantity and no significant difference in quality," Barkakoty added. PTI DG ACD