JORHAT, Feb 23 - Noted tea planter PK Bezboruah, who is the Tocklai Research Association Chairman and also of the Tea Board, has expressed concern over absence of steady fund flow to the TRA in recent times, as the same was instrumental in creating a sense of insecurity among the scientists of the organisation.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day 35th Tocklai Conference held at the Tocklai Tea Research Institute at Cinnamara here on Friday, Bezboruah felt that lack of steady funds flow to Tocklai was leading to a sense of insecurity amongst the scientists� fraternity.
Adding to his point, Bezboruah said the atmosphere of insecurity has led to a brain drain from the organisation.
The TRA Chairman, however, appreciated the scientists by saying that despite the dearth of funds flowing into the organisation, TRA�s scientific community had made steady progress during the past few years.
Emphasising on greater research activity for sustenance of the tea industry, he said that several current problems such as incidence of pests and diseases, climate change challenges etc., may prove difficult to tackle without further augmentation of research work.
Bezboruah urged the TRA management to step up its efforts on revenue generation and marked out tea training and education as an area that could potentially prove fruitful.
Citing the example of other educational institutions, he added that despite the current tea training initiatives that the TRA has been undertaking, it is important that they are scaled up to ensure profitability.
The Tea Board Chairman pointed out the out tea tourism project sanctioned by the State Government for Tocklai as a potential income generator.
Addressing the gathering, TRA Director Dr AK Barooah underlined the TRA�s efforts towards ensuring sustainable tea production.
Barooah added that climate change has brought about a change in the crop environment, impacting growth and yield, which has necessitated undertaking appropriate climate smart adaptation strategies by the industry.
Earlier, Jorhat MP, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa inaugurated the conference in the presence of several dignitaries which included the Indian Tea Association Chairman Vivek Goenka and Tea Association of India Chairman Mudit Kumar.
It may be mentioned here that the Tocklai Tea Research Institute is the world's oldest tea research centre which was established in 1911.
