DIBRUGARH, Sept 26 - The Indian Tea Association through a project tie up with Solidaridad Asia, an international civil society body organized its first set of seasonal training for more than hundred small tea growers of Udalguri, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia.
The project named �Trinitea� was conducted by the Department of Tea Husbandry and Technology, Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Jorhat on September 24 and 25. The AAU laid emphasis on quality leaf production, scientific farm management, application of permitted and appropriate pesticides, weed control and organic farming etc. Stress was also laid on soil testing in the winter months as it formed the basis of good quality leaf production, a release stated.
Pertinent to mention that with the rapid rise of small tea growers in the state both in terms of numbers and area under tea cultivation, the demand for better quality of leaf and price in recent years, has resulted in an urgent need to constantly train and guide the growers to produce quality leaf for tea factories .
As per industry sources, the green tea leaves sourced by the bigger manufacturing entities from the small growers lack consistency in quality for various reasons. Therefore in order to improve upon overall quality of the green leaf input for the manufactured tea the need for a long-term partnership of working closely between the formal traditional sector and the informal small tea growers� sector has become essential for the major players. The formal traditional sector is of the view that such trainings would bring about sharing of good agricultural and integrated pest management policies keeping in mind that ethical practices are necessary for Indian tea to get a wider acceptance in the global and domestic markets.
The two-day training programme was inaugurated by Dr Suhas Barua, Head, Department of Tea Husbandry and Technology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat. The representatives of Indian Tea Association appealed to all farmer representatives to work towards better quality of leaf and to take full advantage of the guidance and knowledge of the Assam Agricultural University. Sandip Ghosh, Secretary, Sustainability, ITA stressed upon quality commitment and requested the small tea growers� body to take the initiative to prevail on the small tea growers to have a commitment towards quality.
