History
A French priest, Father Galloys, introduced the tea plant, Camellia Sinensis, to Mauritius in 1760. Pierre Poivre planted it on a large scale in 1770. But, till the advent of the British it remained little more than a museum plant. In the 19th century, Robert Farquhar, Governor of Mauritius, encouraged commercial tea cultivation. He had a tea garden at Le Reduit. Unfortunately, when he left Mauritius, the plantation was abandoned, as no one was interested in his scheme.
70 years later, Sir John Pope Hennessy revived local interest in tea cultivation and consequently tea plantation was started at Nouvelle France and at Chamarel. Plantations were established and by the end of the century, 190 hectares had been planted. Gradually, more people became interested in tea cultivation and there was a net increase in private plantations and new factories were built. By World War II, 850 hectares were under tea, five factories had been established and production for local consumption was in full swing.
In 1948/1949 a Tea Research Station was set up at Wooton.
Major Development
In 1955, the Government launched the Tea Smallholding Scheme and the Project Planters Scheme. The aim of the Smallholding project was to establish tea plantations on Crown Lands for eventual long-term leasing at nominal rental rates to smallholders grouped in tea cooperative societies. The Project Planters’ Scheme aimed at leasing state lands to prospective planters who were agreeable to establish tea plantations at their own costs. Tea villages were established by the Government to encourage the smallholders to live in vicinity of the tea plantations.
The Tea Control Board was established to regulate and control the activities of the expanding Tea Industry, the Tea Industry Control Ordinance 1959 which came in force in February 1960.
To solve the major problem of unemployment prevailing in Mauritius in the late sixties, Government decided to intensify tea development in the super humid zones not suitable for sugar-cane plantation.
The private sector joined forces with government and established Dubreuil Tea Factory in 1967. The factory provided processing facilities for leaf harvested by smallholders.
The Tea Development Authority (TDA) was created to consolidate smallholders scheme on state landsand to develop the scheme geographically in other areas. By 1975, the TDA established 1234 additional hectares of tea plantation. People joined the TDA as trainees to eventually cultivate tea as smallholders.
Policy in Tea Sector after Independence
To better safeguard the interest of all stakeholders, the Tea Industry Control Ordinance was repeated and replaced by the Tea Industry Control Act 1975. The Act established the Tea Board with undue powers in replacement of the Tea Control Board. Following promilgation of the Tea Industry Control Act 1975, the TDA and the metayers on private estates which fell outside the ambit of the ordinance of 1959, were included within the purview of the Tea Board. As a consequence, the Board started determining green leaf prices for TDA smallholders and metayers.
Critical Situation in Late Eighties
The trainee smallholders completed their training programme in the early eighties. It was only in 1984, a year marked by booming tea prices that they expressed such interest and that it was possible to lease out the tea plantations to them.
In July 1986, the Mauritius Tea Factories Co Ltd was instituted to take over the tea manufacturing and marketing activites from the TDA.
The TDA's role was restricted to management of smallholders and monitoring of leaf produced by this category of tea planters.
Despite the above step taken by Government to improve matters in the tea industry, the situation in the Tea Sector was still gloomy, largely because of low international prices in 1987 and rapid increase in local production costs. The Government was ahead by subsidizing the public tea manufacture sector heavily to ensure its survival. To ensure planters in obtaining a fair revenue,a guaranteed green leaf price was introduced.
The situation did not improve appreciably for the three year that followed.
Three-Year Rehabilitation Plan with the Cooperation of the Government of India
In 1990, an attempt to redress the unhealthy situation in the public tea sector, Government approved a 3-Year Rehabilitation Plan prepared by an Indian Consultancy Team. The rehabilitated plan was implementedas from 1991-92. The primary objective of the plan, financed jointly by the Government of India and Mauritius, was to improve efficiency at all levels – production, manufacturing and marketing and thus secure the Industry’s viability and profitability.
Agricultural Diversification of Public Tea Sector
Attempts to improve the economy of this industry remained unsuccessful. Mauritius could not compete with major tea producing countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Kenya because in these countries, tea is produced at altitude much higher than Mauritius. As a consequence, the quality is not comparable. To safeguard the livelihood of tea smallholders, government came forward with the projects to diversify tea to other activities principally sugarcane. A package of incentives was forward to the tea planter to encourage him to join the project.
Agricultural diversification in the Public Tea Sector started in February 1995. The project aimed at converting some 2,500 hectares (6,000 arpents) of tea into sugar cane and was originally scheduled to end in year 2001. With the additional quota of 85,000 tonnes of sugar from the Eurorefiners, Government decided with the help of the five sugar estates involved in the conversion of the tea belts, to accelerate the diversification programme. The diversification programme was completed in August 1999.
The Modern Tea Industry
As from 1999-2000, the tea industry moved into a new phase marked by the following:
(1) Tea Plantation covered an area of about 760 hectares.
(2) Only private tea factories are in operation. These are Bois Cheri, Corson, La Flora and a new factory La Chartreuse that started in January 2000.
(3) Tea is mainly manufactured for local consumption. Imports were effected only where the return was higher than the cost of providing the produce on the market concerned.
(4) The guaranteed green price scheme was discontinued. There being no justification for its continued existence in the new phase.
Tradition and Culture
Drinking of tea is well anchored in Mauritian tradition. The average consumption of tea in the island is one kilo per head. The average Mauritian drinks black tea. Some Mauritians of Chinese origin consume green tea.
The price of tea is significantly cheaper compared to coffee. Commonly known as the queen of beverages, tea enthralls millions throughout the world. With the increasing awareness of the population to adapt dietary habits that promote health, it is expected that the average Mauritian will continue to drink tea as more and more scientific evidence is being acquired to confirm that tea is good for health, its consumption can inhibit cancer development and reduce the risk of development of heart diseases.
Future of the Tea Industry in Mauritius
At present, Government through the Tea Board protects the local tea industry. In fact the Board, as a general principle, does not allow the import of black tea except minor amount for blending purposes. An importer of tea has to pay for an import licence fee of Rs 5,000/- per consignment for any type of tea imported, an import levy of 17% of CIF value landed Mauritius and a customs duty of 40%. With the general trend of liberalization of World Trade, the future of the local tea industry will depend on how far Government will be successful to protect the local Tea Industry namely to prevent import of tea to the country.
Irrespective of the outcome of what may happened with development at International level, the Tea Board envisages to consolidate the tea industry further. To that end, it is proposed to implement
(1) an infilling programme to improve outputfrom exsting area under tea plantation.
(2) the enhancement of the quality of tea manufactured at tea factories through better control of the standard of green leaf and the manufacturing process. Thus to promote wth a better product.
(3) to develop an adequate marketing strategy for the improved product.
More information can be obtained on the website of the TeaBoard
