THE National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) seeks Rs 25 million to set up tea auction house

THE National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) has sought Rs 25 million from the government to build the proposed tea auction house in Jhapa. In a proposal submitted recently to the Ministry of Agriculture Development, NTCDB has said the sought amount will cover costs for land acquisition, infrastructure development and tea testing laboratories along with other logistic support. NTCDB Executive Director Raman Prasad Pathak said they would start preliminary work on the proposed auction house by the end of this fiscal year. “We have started looking for land plot to initiate building the infrastructure,” he said. The board said a committee has been planned for smooth functioning of the tea auction house which will be the first of its kind in the country. Pathak said the committee would incorporate tea producers, entrepreneurs, NTCDB’s representatives and licensed brokers. “The committee will look after the entire process of fixing the price depending on the available quantity and quality. It will work in coordination with the tea auction house concerned in India.” A tea auction house provides a system in which potential buyers (including foreigners) are able to fix the price through the bidding process. Tea producers will be required to sell their products only through the auction house after its establishment. The system is expected to benefit tea producers by preventing middlemen from taking undue advantage during sales. Using auction houses to sell agriculture products is a popular practice in the international market. The government has also planned the auction house in the Nepal Trade Integration Strategy. In the budget for fiscal 2013-14, the government has talked about establishing an auction house by sharing costs with the private sector. Meanwhile, the board has started providing training to farmers on organic tea farming. According to Pathak, they have started providing training to farmers from three places in southern Jhapa. “Under the programme, farmers are informed about how to minimise the use of chemicals, besides encouraging them to develop organic fertilisers through cow farming and earthworm cultivation,” Pathak said. Saying that the government has announced providing 50 percent subsidy on organic fertiliser production, Pathak demanded the government provide necessary cash support to compensate the loss that farmers face for a certain time when they shift to organic farming. Ilam, Jhapa, Panchthar, Dhankuta and Terhathum are the major tea producing districts. According to NTCDB, more farmers in Dolkha, Lalitpur, Kaski and some districts in the Mid- and Far-Western regions are entering tea production. Tea is grown on 18,149 hectares of land, while 9,941 small farmers are engaged in tea production.