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P.S. Sundar

COONOOR, March 22

THE dual payment scheme embarked upon by Incoserve to segregate quality leaves from others and to encourage the growers go in for quality leaves only has yielded good results.

There has been a marked improvement in the quality of the tea leaves supplied by the small growers of the Nilgiris, according to Mr Udhayachandran, Managing Director of the Incoserve, the apex body of the 16 Inco tea factories. The new scheme, which has been on for a couple of months now reported to be paying ``paying rich dividends''.

``Last month, we received 2.4 lakh kg of quality green leaf for manufacture against a mere 1.4 lakh kg in January. This means that last month 12 per cent of the total leaves we received came under the quality category against as mere 5 per cent in January. So, when the rush season begins in a couple of months from now, we are confident of a greater volume of quality leaves for our manufacture'', he said.

At an earlier interaction, Mr K. Skandan, Commissioner of Industries of Tamil Nadu Government, had assured that the Inco factories would be asked to go for a price differential to match the quality parameters. In keeping with this promise, the factories are now paying a higher rate for the quality green leaves.

``We pay at least a Re 1 a kg more for the quality leaves. In some factories as Salisbury, it is more - Rs 7 a kg for the quality leaves against Rs 5.25 for others'', Mr Udhayachandran said.

The Inco factories have provided different coloured bags for the quality separation. All disputes about the quality of the leaves are settled at the factory level. ``We are able to pay more for the quality raw material because, we use it for the manufacture of CTC premium or orthodox teas which fetch a higher price in the market'', he said.

The repercussions of the Inco scheme on the industry as a whole are wide. Normally, private bought leaf factories fix the rate for the green leaves supplied by the growers marginally higher than the rate of the Inco factory in the vicinity.

Now that the Inco factory itself pays a higher rate for the quality leaves, even they are forced to pay higher rates to ensure regular supply of the raw material.

Already, the auctioneers are claiming that there has been a significant improvement in the quality of the leaves coming up for sale at the Coonoor auction. It is now up to the Tea Board to bring in more buyers form the North and to evolve a compulsory system by which the buyers paid a matching price for the quality at the auctions.

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