A new generation tea farmer from Assam seeing tea industry from a different prospect

Mr. Hazarika completed his MBA from the capital city of Delhi and devoted his time to corporate for 3 years. He has decided to return to his beautiful home state Assam.

Mr. Debashish Hazarika, a tea farmer residing in Moran, Dibrugarh. Dibrugarh is believed to be the world’s largest tea-producing area. Mr. Hazarika completed his MBA from the capital city of Delhi and devoted his time to corporate for 3 years. He has decided to return to his beautiful home state Assam.

Coming from a family with high morals and love for nature, Mr. Hazarika’s father was a well-known writer and social activist. He started tea farming on a small scale in their locality as it was his long-life dream. However, small tea farming is different from company-owned tea gardens, which is mostly unknown to the rest of the country. Debashish is technically very sound, and highly knowledgeable of the entire system of tea farming. The process of how farmers produce their teas, by collecting unprocessed tea leaves from the factory. Factory owners produce teas and sell them to different parts of the country at a certain price.  

But, the farmers think they are deprived of the genuine rates they are supposed to get from factory owners. Adding to that is facing other challenges like climate change, use of chemicals in a scientific way, availability of manures and maintaining quality, pandemic, etc.

So Mr. Debashish Hazarika, who has exposure to Delhi, thinks that contract farming and MSP should be implemented in this area for the betterment of small tea growers. Every year they have to struggle for genuine rates. Once production increases after the first flush, a group of factory owners controls the rate as per with a focus on profit maximization. This has been an ongoing process and it’s high time some take a stand and stop this injustice against the hardworking innocent small-scale farmers. This is their only source of living.

Interestingly, the tea industry comes under the ministry of commerce and industry. Mr. Hazarika hopes that under the leadership of Honourable Chief Minister Dr. Hiamnta Biswa Sarma tea industry of Assam will reach newer heights because Dr. Sarma is known for his out-of-the-box progressive ideas, which is facing the toughest times for the last couple of years. It is believed that Dr. Sarma will stop the ongoing injustice and give the farmers their deserved share. Mr Hazarika is urging the government to implement a minimum floor price to secure the interest of both tea sellers and farmers , which has been implemented in African tea producing countries. He has also advocated the labourers interest ,health and safety for a long time .

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