Small Tea Plantation and Its Impact on the Rural Landscape of Contemporary Assam

What is it about?

The tea plantations in the Northeast Indian state of Assam, launched by the British colonial regime in the mid-nineteenth century, had considerably transformed the socio-economic profile of the state. Controlled by the British companies, the plantation sector saw few local planters, although a section of the Assamese peasants traditionally engaged in tea cultivation in their homestead on a small scale. After India’s independence, many Indian entrepreneurs entered the plantation sector largely because of the departure of the British planters. The Assamese entrepreneurs found it difficult to emulate this due to lack of capital. Since the 1970s, however, a significant section of the local small and middle peasants, as a part of a conscious drive, took to small tea plantation (STP). The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic growth in the number of such small planters, which has brought about a major change in the rural social landscape of Assam.

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Why is it important?

Small tea plantations have the potential to contribute to the growth of the rural economy of Assam in a significant manner. However, the way it is being practiced now is fraught many problems. Some of them are short run and some are long run problems which raise question about the sustainability of the enterprise. The paper highlighted some of these problems and possible measures to overcome them.

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