JORHAT, Feb 27 � To bring together planters, scientists, government officials and small growers for a threadbare discussion on tea plant protection, the Tea Research Association (TRA) on Thursday organised a national seminar at the Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI) for the first time in the country after the Tea Board recently came out with a plant protection code to reduce the use of chemicals in plantations.
Along with TRA Director Dr N Muraleedharan, Chairman AN Singh, Vice Chairman Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah, Secretary J Phukan and former chairman of the Tea Board MGVK Bhanu, about 200 farmers, experts and officials attended the seminar which focused on the scientific management of diseases in tea plants and the control of pests and weeds in the tea gardens of the State that have witnessed the growth of several harmful insects and diseases due to declining rainfall since the past several years.
As the Tea Board has restricted the planters from using excessive chemical pesticides and fertilizers during plantation, many of the scientists on Thursday narrated the research-based output of �non-chemical strategies� for plantation and protection of green plants, which has placed the State among the �preferred destinations of the world for tourists, industrialists and economists of various first-world countries.�
Pointing out the major diseases of tea plants in the gardens of Assam and other north-eastern pockets, Dr BK Barthakur of the Mycology and Microbiology Department of the TTRI stated in his seminar paper that blister blight, black rot, red rust poria branch cancer, charcoal stamp rot and brown root rot are the major diseases of tea plants in north India. Suggesting the use of laboratory produce like Trichoderma to control the root diseases of tea plants, Dr Barthakur said that effective shade management, plucking at shorter intervals and removal of badly-affected shoots are recommended to protect the plants.
Among renowned experts Dr Thomas Henn of Germany, Dr Arvind Gulati, chief scientist and head of the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Dr AK Barooah of the Analytical Service Department of the TTRI, Dr Nirmal S Sahay of Sadbhab SRISTI Sansodhan Laboratory of Ahmedabad and many others presented research papers on various topics of plant protection in the seminar.
Stressing the need of using herbal pesticides, Dr Nirmal S Sahay said that his organisation, SRISTI can join hands for collaborative research with the TTRI for paving the way for time-tested grassroots knowledge �for pest and disease management.�
Narrating the importance of the proper evaluation of safe plant protection schedules, Dr AK Barooah stated that a series of supervised field trials were conducted by the TTRI to study the dissipation and terminal residue of a number of pesticides in tea.
