24. Crop basis. - (1) The crop basis of a tea estate or a sub-division of a tea estate for any financial year shall be the best crop in any of the four calendar years previous to the preceding financial year, due allowance being made for low producing areas [as provided in rule 25A]: [Inserted by S.R.O. 229, dated 19th January, 1955]
Provided that when a tea estate in production has no crop basis under this rule, the assessed crop of the estate for that year may be taken as its crop basis.[Explanation.] [Inserted by S.R.O. 229, dated 19th January, 1955] - In this sub-rule and in rule 25A, the expression "low producing area" means a tea estate or sub-division of a tea estate having an actual crop basis, as determined with reference to the area planted therein with tea on the first day of the financial year immediately preceding the financial year to which any application by the owner of such estate or sub-division under rule 23 relates, of less than [510 kilograms per hectare] [Substituted by G.S.R. 453, dated 25th March, 1961].(2)When the area of a tea estate or a sub-division of a tea estate is reduced or increased by the transfer to or acquisition from another tea estate of land planted with tea, the crop basis of the estate or sub-division of the tea estate shall be reduced or increased by an amount representing as nearly as possible the contribution made by the area transferred or acquired to the crop basis of the estate of which it previously formed a part.(3)Where a tea estate for which a crop basis has been determined becomes two or more separate estates, the crop of each such separate estate shall be determined so as to represent as nearly as possible the contribution made by the area comprised in it to the total crop basis of the original estate.
