Tea board switches over to e-auction system

Our Correspondent

Palampur, May 22

The Tea Board of India in association with M-Junction Services is launching an e-auction platform in the country which aims at overcoming challenges being faced by the industry in the international tea market.The Tea Board of India has switched over to this high tech auction system to take up ex-garden/ factory model of direct sales. This auction of tea lots will operate on cloud technology and will aim at obviating the need of physical movement of tea pre-auction. This facility is also being floated for the Kangra tea industry, considering the remoteness of Kolkata auction and logistical overheads issues.

Anupam Dass, Deputy Director, Tea Board of India, on the occasion of International Tea Day, said here that in order to control green leaf fineness and tea quality, artificial intelligence (AI)-based fine leaf count (FLC) machine would be commissioned in the Palampur cooperative tea factory. Since the HP tea industry is small, tea growers dominate with 64 per cent production coming from the small segment.

He said to address climate change and induce climate resilience in tea value chain, the tea board is all set to roll out NFACC (National Fund for Adaptation to Climate Change) funded interventions, closely working with self help groups and NABARD.