write a short note on tea industry of Assam
Answers
Explanation:
The tea industry in Assam is about 172 years old. It occupies an important place and plays a very useful part in the national economy. Robert Bruce in 1823 discovered tea plants growing wild in upper Brahmaputra Valley.
A tea garden was started by the Government in 1833 in erstwhile Lakhimpur district. With the arrival in London of the fine quality tea from this garden in 1938,the commercial circle of the city took a keen interest in tea plantations in Assam and a company known as the Assam Company was formed in 1839 to take over the experimental holdings of the East India Company's Administration over the tea gardens established in Assam till then. This was the first company in India to undertake the commercial production of tea and was, in fact, the direct successor of the East India Company.
A site was cleared from the jungle at Nazira which became and remained as the headquarters of this company until it was shifted to Calcutta in 1965. The official incorporation of this Company was effected in 1845. This company, however, did not attain much prosperity during the first ten years of its existence. By about 1852,under the management of George Williamson, one of the great pioneers in tea garden management, its condition began to improve and its success made the prospect of the industry so promising and attractive that speculators egarly rushed to it .
In 1859,the second important tea company, the Jorhat Tea Company was formed. To encourage tea plantation in the province, the Government also made liberal provisions for the settlement of the waste land for tea cultivation. In the early sixties, many provisions of the former waste Land Settlement Rules were waived. Between 1860 and 1865,the industry was the object of wild speculation. Then came the collapse in 1866, when all tea properties depreciated and all the babble concerns burst. So severe was the situation that a Government Commission of Enquiry had to be appointed. It reported that the industry was basically sound, and by 1870-71 public confidence was restored and development continued on sounder basis. In 1879,further slump occurred following the boom in prices due to a false rumour of shortage of exports from China. Though condition improved after three years, another slump occurred for a period between 1893 and 1906 because of over-production. The industry did not recapture its expansion mood again in the present century. On the other hand, great improvements have been made in the yield per acre under tea, in the grouping of gardens under a limited number of companies, in the progressive mechanisation and rationalisation of production and in increasing their efficiency in regard to the productivity of labour.