'As the sector has emerged out of a prolonged recessionary cycle, growers should invest in re-plantation and rejuvenation of ageing bushes or plants to face competition set to intensify with the advent of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) India signed with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Aug 13,' Sen reiterated.

The FTA comes into force from January 1, 2010.

Earlier, tea, coffee, rubber and spice planters in South India Tuesday called for drastic amendments to the various acts pertaining to land, labour and wages so that they could be globally competitive.

'There is an urgent need to overhaul the Plantations Act, the Land Reforms Act and the Minimum Wages Act to become competitive in a global market,' UPASI president D.P. Maheshwari said.

In his presidential address at the 116th annual conference of UPASI here, Maheshwari said the high cost of production was a disadvantage to the plantation sector due to various statutory social costs unlike in other producing countries.

'As tea, coffee, rubber and spices are governed by the central plantation acts, the central government should regulate the working conditions including wages by divesting the state governments of the statutory powers exercised by them arbitrarily,' Maheshwari said.

Alternatively, the advice of the central government should be made binding on state governments by amending the acts.

Seeking an early meeting of central and state governments with the plantation associations to discuss the issues and evolve a consensus, Maheshwari said the subsidy given to small farmers for re-plantation should be extended to corporates, as they play a vital role in the sector employing more workers and paying higher wages.

Terming the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) India signed Aug 13 with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) a bolt from the blue to the plantation sector, the president said the pact would have a catastrophic effect on the sector, especially in southern India where wages and production cost are higher than in the competing countries.