This year, some 1 120 tea planters benefitted from the Winter Allowance amounting to the tune of Rs 7 million. This allowance is in line with the objective of the Government to support tea growers and encourage them to continue their plantations.
Since 2015, Government has been working towards the revival of the tea sector and the Winter Tea Allowance is a way to show Government’s commitment to support tea growers so that this sector starts to play an important role in the country’s economy once again.
The aim of this allowance, being paid since 2018, is to encourage planters to provide better maintenance to their crops during winter such as pruning of their field to increase productivity and also act as a boost for new entrants including youngsters to invest in tea plantation. Budget 2018-2019 made provision for a monthly income support of 50 cents per kilo of tea leaves harvested by small planters to compensate for the five months winter period but was then increased to 75 cents per kilo of tea leaves harvested.
In the last Budget 2022-2023, provision was made to increase the Winter Allowance from Rs 1.50 per kilo of tea leaves harvested paid to planters to Rs 2.00 per kilo. The allowance is payable on the shortfall in the production of tea leaves incurred during the winter period for each crop season.
Payment of Winter Allowance
The income support payable under the Winter Allowance is paid to all planters who have delivered their tea leaves production to factories such as the Bois Cheri Tea Estate, Corson Tea Estate Co. Ltd and La Chartreuse Tea Manufacturing Co. Ltd which are in operation for the crop season, and is calculated based on the quantity of tea leaves they have delivered for the five months pertaining to crop season.
The payment of the Winter Allowance is conducted based on the official lists of tea planters, containing among others the respective production of each tea planter as submitted by the National Agricultural Products Regulatory Office (NAPRO) to the Small Farmers Welfare Fund (SFWF).
Data obtained from Statistics Mauritius shows that a remarkable increase in area under tea cultivation from 2015 to 2021 was observed and accounted for 19.34% even though the year 2020 and 2021 was quite difficult for the sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related confinement.
Since its introduction to date, a total amount of around Rs 17.5 million have been disbursed as Winter Allowance to tea planters as follows:
| Year | No of Tea Growers | Amount paid (Rs) |
| 2018 | 1106 | 4,384,404.96 |
| 2019 | 1110 | 8,995,724.55 |
| 2020 | 1066 | 4,103,765.76 |
| July 2021 | 1119 | 7,927,304.00 |
| Total | 17,482,656.52 | |
