Tea is developed in 16 states across the country, of which Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala represent around 96 per cent of the all-out tea cultivation. Chhattisgarh has become the 17th state in India to produce tea despite the humid weather condition and rocky terrain.
The rocky hilly terrains of Jashpur district dominated by the state’s tribals have now become a home to tea gardens and green tea. What started as an experiment in 2010 on one-acre land at Sogada ashram in Chhattisgarh, has now expanded to 50 acres with plans afoot to carve the state’s name in producing quality tea.
The valley is situated around 3,000-3,500 ft above the mean sea level and its rolling undulated topography. Except a bit of paddy and some oil crops, nothing grows here. People have slowly and slowly cut the jungle.
Former advisor to the tea board of India and the brain behind tea plantation in Chhattisgarh, Dr ID Singh said that what the British could not do, we did in the state’s rocky terrain.
“In 2010, tea plantations were started at an ashram on an acre of land on an experimental basis. I had studied the topography and the soil before reaching to the conclusion that tea plantation can be done. I prepared a professional report giving a nod for tea cultivation after surveying the area and collecting data on rainfall and soil. Following this, a truckload of tea plants from Siliguri nurseries were planted in the ashram in May 2010,” Singh told The Tribune.
Inspired by the success, the then Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Raman Singh directed the tea cultivation on 50 acres of land in Jashpur.
As compared to tea plants in Assam, which grow in three years, the tea plantation in Jashpur developed in just 15 months.
In his research, Dr Suresh Kumar Patel, Assistant Professor, Likhan Sai Govt College Tapkara, Jashpur, said, “In Jashpur district hardly any industry is here; therefore the government also decided to promote tea cultivation. They found the hilly region of Saarudih in Jashpur, is favourable for growth of tea. Cultivation and production of tea in Saarudih tea garden is fully operated by tribal women; this is a good example of women empowerment especially in backward tribal area.” “These tea gardens create a new identity of Chhattisgarh as a tea cultivator and tea producer state.”
