Nagaland’s average bought-leaf factory (BLF) tea price rose to Rs 302.83 per kg in July, the highest among the markets listed in the Tea Board of India’s July 2026 data. However, the available figures do not show how much of that value reached the small tea growers in Nagaland.
The reported BLF average has risen sharply since March, when Nagaland recorded an average of Rs 124.67 per kg. It increased to Rs 276.26 in April and Rs 286.42 in May before reaching Rs 337.51 in June and easing to Rs 302.83 in July.
The figures, however, represent averages reported at the BLF level and should not be treated as the farm-gate price received by growers for green leaf.
The distinction is significant in Nagaland, where the returns received by small tea growers have remained a concern. A recent report by a recent EastMojo report on tea growers in eastern Nagaland documented sharp fluctuations in green-leaf prices, with growers quoted as receiving as little as Rs 5 per kg during winter and generally no more than Rs 17–18 per kg during the peak season.
Those grower-level figures are not directly comparable with the Tea Board’s BLF averages, as they refer to different points in the tea value chain. But the disparity highlights a central question raised by the latest data: whether the sharp increase in factory-level prices is translating into higher returns for growers.
A Tea Board-commissioned study in 2024 found that the existing price-sharing formula in Nagaland was 56:44 between small tea growers and bought-leaf factories, but said it was ‘hardly implemented and followed’ in the State
The study recorded 2,227 registered small tea growers in Nagaland cultivating about 4,770 hectares. Tea production was concentrated in Mon, Mokokchung and Dimapur districts, while the study identified six bought-leaf factories operating in the State.
It also noted that growers in some areas had to transport green leaf to factories in Assam because of limited local processing capacity, adding another factor affecting the economics of cultivation.
The question of returns to small tea growers has continued to feature in demands for changes to the existing pricing system. In November 2025, the North East Confederation of Small Tea Growers’ Associations sought a Minimum Support Price or Fair and Remunerative Price for green tea leaves, arguing that the existing Price Sharing Formula and the Tea Board’s Average Green Leaf Price system had not adequately benefited growers. The All Nagaland Small Tea Growers Association was among the organisations represented in the appeal.
Against that backdrop, the latest Tea Board figures show a substantial increase in Nagaland’s reported BLF average, but provide no corresponding grower-level price.
The data also do not explain the sharp movement in Nagaland’s reported BLF average this year—from Rs 124.67 per kg in March to Rs 337.51 per kg in June before settling at Rs 302.83 in July.
The available figures do not disclose whether the reported averages are volume-weighted, the grades or quality of leaf included, the number of factories reporting, or the precise basis on which the averages were calculated. These limitations make it difficult to determine what is driving the sharp increase or how the factory-level figures translate into grower earnings.
What the July data establish is that the average price reported at Nagaland’s BLFs has risen substantially since March. What they do not establish is whether small tea growers have received a corresponding increase in their returns.
For Nagaland’s tea growers, that remains the key question behind the latest price figures.
