SMALL TEA GROWERS OF NILGIRIS

Abstract

Tea plantation in South India can be traced to 1821 when a bridle path which became the first ghat road, was laid out from Mettupalayam in the plains to Kotagiri in Niligiris. It soon made hills an attractive residential destination for the elite of the British army. Robert Clive had a house there in 1824. The first tea plants were put out in a farm at Ketti in 1835 and full scale plantations were started on Dunsandle Estate in 1859. Over the years the area under and the tea crop of South India have been growing. This trend has been well nurtured by the State Government, United Planters Association of Southern India, Tea Board and various other agencies.