Portable tea factory ready to be placed in your verandahs

Days were gone when a tea factory meant heavy machines fixed in a giant room and large number of people working together to produce the scented leaves, the state is famous for.

Now, you are able to set up your own tea factory in your verandah or somewhere beside your living room and can produce whatever type of tea you long for.

This is more than anything for the beginners. Anyone who wants to try his luck with the tea manufacturing can set up his own micro-factory spending a sum which is even less than a modern day Smartphone. “It is a game changer concept for encouraging startups” said Diganta Barman, Assistant Tea Development posted in Tripura regional office of Tea Board,

Diganta Barman conceptualized a brand new idea of producing tea in simple arrangements of room heaters and exhaust fans putting together in just a 200 meter area.

For a person to set up this arrangement all it requires pieces of woods, a heater, exhaust fans which would barely cost Rs. 15 thousand. This can be processed 1.5-2 Kg tea every single day and for which it takes 18-20 hour from plucking to packing. This machine will help small tea growers process 2 Kg of tea every single day anywhere at their home”, he said.

He also said the machine has a withering trough, roller, fermentation chamber, a humidifier and a dryer powered with a regular electric room heater.

“The products are easily available in the market with low cost and can be managed and arranged in households easily. Within a space of 3ft x 8ft, the machine has space for hand rolling dried tea leaves, packing them into plastic bags and sealing them off”, he told this correspondent.

Barman said that he has processed four various kinds of tea including white tea, green tea, ulong and Orthodox tea.

“It has been three months I have installed this arrangement. And till now I have processed white tea, green tea, ulong and Orthodox tea. It needs 45 minutes to process 2 Kg green tea leaf”, Barman said.

Diganta Barman served in different private tea estates at Dooars, Harrison Malayalam, HML, Lakua tea estate of Assam.

He says that he had developed this concept on his experiences in other states where he had come across throughout his work life. The official of Tea Board of India has also informed this newsman that at present in the state there were 12 small tea growers and 3 big gardens that were producing white tea.

Rashik Debbarma a small tea grower of Ranir Bazar areas under West district Tripura is tuning the technique. “During my visit to Dibrugarh in Assam in the month of January last this year, I was trained to adopt self-production by setting a small machine at my home” he said this correspondent.

“After returning from Assam I took the initiatives and set up my state of the art factory. I have 2.8 hectares of land where I produce organic teas such as traditional Tripura tea and Green tea. The small tea growers of the state can’t afford expensive devices. This new technique would lead us towards new aspects and thinking”, he added. “I spent a sum of Rs 17,000” he replied to a question.      

He also submitted that under the generous supervision of Tea Board of India he had started producing tea and under their help, he was now able to earn better.