Influence of Smallscale Tea Cultivation (STC) on Earnings of Bangladeshi Migrant Farmers in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Bangladeshi migrant farmers in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India, have been playing a pioneering role in small-scale tea cultivation in the region.The study 'based on focused group interviews, attempts to identify the influence of small-scale tea cultivation on the earnings of Bangladeshi migrant farmers and the importance of Bangladeshi migrant farmers in the study region. The study reveals that Bangladeshi migrants brought the idea of small-scale tea cultivation on agricultural land with their innovative and risk-taking behaviour. They produce and earn more than the indigenous small-scale tea cultivators in the same region.