The Centre has floated market-linked Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation Crops for small tea growers to insure them against losses arising from fluctuations in yield as well as in prices . Sources said the scheme is similar to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which was announced earlier this year, and will be rolled out on the basis of shared funding of premium between the Centre, state and the growers in the ratio of 75:15:10. The ministry of commerce had implemented a price stabilisation scheme for plantation crops, including tea, from 2003-13 with a view to protect the farmers from losses on account of price fluctuations. It was reviewed in the light of experience of implementing the scheme and a new scheme was then devised. Weather uncertainties have put the tea industry in a spot as it still does not have a proper insurance policy. Excess rainfall in Assam has put the industry in a spot of bother as floodwaters had entered the gardens. Small tea growers at present contribute around 35 per cent of the tea produced in the country. Growers holding up to 10.12 hectares are considered small holders in the country. "It is the small tea growers who are the most affected stakeholder in the entire industry and such a scheme would be most helpful for us," Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, president, Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Association, told The Telegraph. The sector has problems of its own and is by and large unorganised because of its scattered small holdings. It has no processing facilities of its own and supplies green leaf to private bought leaf factories or estate factories either directly or through leaf-collection agents. Tea is a rain-fed crop and the physiology of tea plants is closely linked to external environmental and climatic factors - precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, temperature, light duration and intensity, humidity, shelter and carbon dioxide concentration. The inter-governmental group on tea under the Food and Agriculture Organisation said the situation of small tea growers continues to be problematic because their cost of production tends to be higher than the prices they receive for fresh tea leaves, if the cost of labour is factored in. Bidyananda Barkakoty, adviser, North Eastern Tea Association, said as the price the small tea growers obtain for their green leaf is dependent on the price of the finished product (made tea) of the factories to which the small tea growers sell their green leaf, the loss in production and income due to the above-mentioned factors are beyond their control. "An insurance scheme for small tea growers should be provided to cover production-related risks and price volatility," he said. He said as the new policy has talked about insurance premium being shared by the state government too, the association would take it up with the government that comes to power after the elections. "There used to be crop insurance several years back but not anymore . High premium was one reason which led to its demise," a tea industry official said. A senior official of Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited said the organised sector is looking for a policy that takes care of weather-related uncertainties. "The premium has to be reasonable," the official said, adding that employment costs and prices of other inputs have gone up. Source - http://www.telegraphindia.com