Three model farms in India for organic tea cultivation

India produces about 26 million g of organic tea and 80 per cent of this is exported to Germany, the UK and the US.
NUREMBERG (GERMANY), FEB. 19: The Tea Board has set up three model farms in India on 100 acres each to develop a standard package for cultivation of organic tea, according to Ms Roshni Sen, Deputy Chairperson of the Board.

“The farms are in Munnar (Kerala), Darjeeling (West Bengal) and Assam and they will develop a standard package through research and development,” she told Business Line at the Indian Tea Board pavilion at BioFach 2012.

The package is being developed with financial aid from the Food and Agriculture Organisation's Centre For Commodities Fund.

While the United Planters Association of Southern India-Tea Research Association is involved in the Munnar farm, the Darjeeling Tea Development Research Corporation is doing the spadework at Darjeeling. The Tea Research Association of India, Tocklai, is in charge of research in Assam gardens.

“We are following a two-pronged strategy in encouraging organic production of tea. One is to prepare a standard package for cultivation and the other is to rope in small farmers by imparting regular training,” she said.

This is seen as a significant move by India to strengthen its hold in the organic tea market with a production of 26 million kg. About 80 per cent of this is exported to Germany, the UK and the US.

Currently, organic tea is being cultivated on 22,000 hectares and India is one of the few countries that has a national programme for organic production apart from China.

There are eight certifying agencies in the organic tea sector and 50 producers have been certified by these bodies. “Other producers are in the process of getting certification,” Ms Sen said.

The development of organic tea and a standard package for its cultivation is also seen important in the background of reports of pesticide residues being found in Indian tea consignments.

The Tea Board has appointed an agency to undertake a market study on domestic demand in organic products.

“We have already done a study on demand for such products in the US,” she said.

On setting up an export inspection council in view of increasing complaints on quality grounds against Indian tea, Ms Sen said a monitoring system will be set up during the 12th Plan period.

To a question on a directorate for small tea growers, she said it will begin functioning from this year. “We have already started the recruitment process for the directorate,” she said.

(The trip for BioFach 2012 has been sponsored by Nuremberg Messe GmbH in collaboration with the APEDA).

Source: Business Line

More of Organic Black tea

Kolkata : India’s organic farming efforts will see a sea change in the tea sector following the launch of the project to develop organic black tea with funding from the Amsterdam-based Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), a UN body.

According to Tea Board officials, the project is set to take off in the current year itself. Under the project, the Tea Board will receive from CFC $9,00,000 as loan repayable over seven years and another $6,00,000 as grant.

The agreement between the Union Government, which will be the guarantor to the loan, the Tea Board and CFC will be signed in this year.

Three model firms, each of 100 acres, will be set up in Assam (near Tinsukia in Upper Assam), West Bengal (Darjeeling district) and Tamil Nadu (tea growing areas in Annamalai hill range of the Western Ghat).

The technical support will be provided by Tocklai tea research station in Assam, Tea Board’s research center in Darjeeling and Upasi Tea Research Foundation in Tamil Nadu.

The thrust of the CFC-funded organic black tea project will be to standardize the organic tea growing practices through proper technical support, assess the market and determine the demand to establish its commercial viability and to have a proper certification procedure.

Darjeeling Hill farmers to extend holdings

Raniban (Darjeeling): The 170-year-old monopoly of tea garden owners could soon change with hill farmers looking to plant tea on small holdings.

Organic Ekta (organic unity) — a cooperative society of small tea growers in the hills — is trying to increase its holdings and sell its product on a commercial scale.

“In 2006 we formed a cooperative and registered ourselves under the name Organic Ekta. At present, over 1,000 hectare of land, covering eight villages from Pokhriabong to Raniban, are under tea cultivation,” said Harish Mukhia, a retired planter, who has helped similar initiatives in Arunachal Pradesh and Nepal.

Though the farmers in the hills have been cultivating tea for the past 50 years, it was essentially produced on hand rolls for consumption at home.

“Last year, we could sell about 40,000 kg of green leaves to other (established) gardens in the hills which was converted to about 8,000 kg of made tea,” said Mukhia.

The move has come as a major boon to farmers from areas like Raniban, 25 km from Darjeeling. Hemmed by the Ghum-Bhanjyan and Senchel wildlife sanctuaries, farmers here could not grow organic fruits and vegetables as marauding animals, especially wild boars, destroyed their crops year after year.

Pannalal Subba, the secretary of the small tea growers’ association, said though the situation seemed promising the new body would need help from the government.

Subba was referring to the recent tea board directive making it mandatory for tea growers to obtain a licence from the board and a Certified Trade Mark.

“This year, we sold tealeaves at Rs 30 per kg through the Darjeeling Earth Group — an NGO working here. We have also obtained licence to plant tea in two villages, Rangbhayan and Risheehat Khasmal. We are now in the process of obtaining the necessary documents and would need government support,” said Mukhia.

Source: The Telegraph

Honey at Makaibari Tea Estates

Buzz is the word at the Makaibari tea estate.

After offering home stay to tourists, workers at the garden, located 3 km from here, have found a new way to earn that extra bit — beekeeping and selling honey.

With encouragement from the proprietor of the estate, Raja Banerjee, and help from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Darjeeling, nine workers have set up an apiary, which they hope will soon become a major source of additional income. “We have nine members in our co-operative society who have started beekeeping. Almost two years ago, our sahib (Raja Banerjee) gave us around Rs10,000 to form the co-operative, buy beehives and set up the necessary infrastructure,” said Santosh Rai, the secretary of the Buzz Co-operative Society.

“We had started at a very low scale, but it has grown over the years. Today, we have around 35 hives from where we extract honey and sell them at Rs 200 per bottle,” said Rai, who is a security guard at the factory. And of course, the money comes handy. “We find it the most beneficial at the beginning of new sessions in schools when we have to buy books, uniforms and other necessary items for our children. The extra money kind of eases the burden and we do not have to worry about our wards’ education,” said Janak Chettri, a member of the society.

Initially, the co-operative granted loans — from the money given by Banerjee — to interested workers to install beehives on the plots in front of their homes.

“Every member has four hives, from which we extract honey twice a year. We get around four bottles of honey from one hive,” said Rai, who has seven beehives at his place. “Usually we get the extract once in April-May and again in November-December.”

A training camp will be held this November or December, for which the WWF has promised to send an expert to teach the volunteers the know-how of beekeeping.

In a bid to increase the production, the society now plans to raise the number of beehives to at least 1,000. “Our sahib, who is very interested in the project, told us that we can get a machine for bottling the honey and labelling the containers. One day, we hope to make it big in the market, set up a company and get a patent for our produce,” Rai added.

Though Banerjee was not available for comment, deputy manager Debarata Majumdar told The Telegraph that inspired by the hard work put in by the workers, the management is now planning to export honey.

“Since ours is an organic garden, the bee population is pretty high here. With encouragement from Mr Bannerjee, the labourers have utilised the opportunity well,” Majumdar said. “For export, we have to produce around 10,000 bottles of honey every year. We think we can make it within the next two years.”

Source: The Telegraph