An Economic Study of Small Tea Growers of Jorhat District of Assam

India is the leading producer and exporter of tea in the world. It is the only industry where India has retained its leadership over the last 150 years. Traditionally the large companies grow tea in an extensive manner. In many tea growing countries individual farmers cultivate tea in a small scale. In India tea is also extensively cultivated in small scale in some regions like south India and Himachal Pradesh. Small scale tea cultivation in Assam is comparatively a recent development. Though initially small scale tea cultivation gained momentum only in the Upper Assam in recent years it has spread to 22 districts.During initial phase of cultivation the finance is the critical issue. This highly unorganized sector of small Tea Growers(STGs) produces approximately 150 million kg which is almost 18 percent of the total production of the country. As the STGs have a great impact on the tea industry of Assam an Economic study of the small tea growers in Jorhat district of Assam was carried out.