GUWAHATI, May 13 - The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is developing a new Android app for small tea growers of the State to help them in efficient field management of tea plantations. The North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) held a workshop on Wednesday at Golaghat on this app, in association with the Tata Global Beverages Limited (TGBL), for the benefit of the small tea growers of the State.
The NETA said in a statement here on Wednesday that the TGBL has engaged the TCS for developing the app, which can be downloaded for free from Google Playstore.
However, it said the new app, which is still in a nascent stage, is yet to overcome some challenges. These include making it compatible for mobile phones, besides the lack of follow-up training and support for users, passive engagement of tea gardens and lack of a proactive advisory. It will also need to overcome the inconsistent engagement with the small growers and non-availability of reliable historical data on field practices, said the NETA statement.
The workshop was attended by Sanjio Kumar, Executive Director, Tea Board, NE Zonal Office, as the chief guest. Dipankar Mukherjee, Deputy Director, Tea Board, small tea growers, bought leaf tea factory owners and estate factory owners also attended the workshop. �
The workshop was conducted by Abhijit Hazarika of the TGBL, Sanjay Dutta of Amalgamated Plantations (APPL), and Jayant Mohita of the TCS.�
Bidyananda Barkakoty, Vice Chairman of the Tea Board of India and adviser of the NETA, coordinated the workshop.�
The objective of the workshop was to link small tea growers with an expert for advisory on good agricultural practices (GAPs) through an online platform. It was also to ensure compliance to the Plant Protection Code (PPC) for pest and disease management, along with the forecasting of pests and diseases in the near future. The app will also help in the digitization of farm diaries and a method for self-certification and traceability of the use of safe chemicals, the NETA said.
