date:Oct 15, 2012
Plantation crops tea, coffee, rubber and spices were among the top foreign exchange earners in the country five decades ago. In fact, India accounted for 35 per cent of global tea exports in the 1960s. That has now fallen to less than a third at 11 per cent. Tea is the biggest plantation crop in the country, and the sector is now in dire need of creative and bold initiatives that will put it back on track.
The labour-intensive sector, employing 11 lakh workers, needs measures to encourage i