Assam's Attabarie Tea Receives Global Recognition at Las Vegas Championship: CM Sarma
Guwahati(The Uttam Hindu): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Wednesday that the tea from Attabarie estate in Sivasagar has been recognized as the world’s best black CTC tea at the 2025 World Tea Championship. On X, CM Sarma shared, "The bold and strong flavor of Attabarie Tea Estate in Sivasagar has been awarded as the world's best Black CTC tea at the 2025 World Tea Championship. As Assam Tea celebrates its 200th year, this is a proud moment for our Cha Shramiks, estate staff, and the State."
In a related development, the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA), a prominent tea planters' body, has urged both the Central and state governments to extend the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) scheme to tea estates in Assam to allow for the cultivation of oil palm trees. NETA advisor Bidyananda Barkakoty revealed that the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in a letter to Assam's Director of Agriculture on April 1, agreed to extend the NMEO-OP scheme for oil palm cultivation on five percent of Assam's tea estate lands. The Central government had introduced the operational guidelines of the NMEO-OP scheme in April 2022, with an expiry date in 2025-26. However, Barkakoty noted that Assam's tea estates were unable to benefit from the scheme due to land classification and other restrictive conditions.
As a result, NETA has requested the extension of the NMEO-OP scheme to Assam's tea gardens. The body pointed out that oil palm cultivation requires significant capital investment for planting, irrigation, and maintenance during the initial non-harvest years. Following NETA’s appeal, the Union Ministry of Agriculture responded positively and wrote to the Assam government's Agriculture Department to support the cultivation of oil palm trees on five percent of the tea estates' land. According to Barkakoty, NETA has conducted an in-house study and found that tea and oil palm can be cultivated together harmoniously.
