Tea Industry to upgrade quality and hike production to meet demand
For starters, Tea Board has lined up a Rs 150 cr corpus for R&D of which Rs 20 cr will be spent on developing weather resistant tea clones.
By Sutanuka Ghosal, ET Bureau | Updated:
GOA: The Indian tea industry has taken up a comprehensive plan to upgrade quality and increase production to meet the growing demand in the domestic as well as the global market.
For starters, Tea Board has just lined up a Rs 150 crore corpus for research and development work, of which, Rs 20 crore will be spent for developing weather resistant tea clones. Another Rs 350 crore has been earmarked for replanting ageing bushes that are affecting the overall production of Indian tea, which has been stagnating at 980 million kg for a couple of years.
The tea industry is also looking at an inclusive growth and has also earmarked Rs 200 crore for improving the condition of its tea estate workers in the 12th Plan period that had kicked off on April 1, 2012. This is an almost six-fold increase in labour welfare account compared to the 11th five year plan when a paltry sum of Rs 48 crore was allocated.
“We have seen that the younger plants are stronger in fighting against insects and pests and so Tea Research Association and United Planters’ Association of South India have been given the task of working on developing climate resistant clones,” said MG VK Bhanu, chairman, Tea Board.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of 3rd India International Tea Convention (IITC) at Goa. Nearly 350 delegates are participating in IITC, of which 100 are from overseas. Representatives from Kenya, Germany, UK, USA, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Egypt, Tanzania and Iran are taking part in the convention, which is the landmark event for all stakeholders in the tea industry.
The biggest concern for the Indian tea producers is the ageing tea bushes. In Darjeeling, for instance , 75% of tea bushes are between 50 – 100 years old. Data shows that 38% of the bushes in south and north Indian are between 50 – 100 years of age and thus the yield is very low compared to nations like Kenya and Sri Lanka, where the bushes are relatively young.
Chairman of Indian Tea Association CS Bedi said: “Warming trends have been observed in the north Eastern India, the major tea producing region in the country , coupled with a decreasing rainfall. This is the major challenge before the tea industry at present.”
(The author was invited to Goa by Indian Tea Association to cover the India International Tea Convention, 2012)
For starters, Tea Board has just lined up a Rs 150 crore corpus for research and development work, of which, Rs 20 crore will be spent for developing weather resistant tea clones. Another Rs 350 crore has been earmarked for replanting ageing bushes that are affecting the overall production of Indian tea, which has been stagnating at 980 million kg for a couple of years.
The tea industry is also looking at an inclusive growth and has also earmarked Rs 200 crore for improving the condition of its tea estate workers in the 12th Plan period that had kicked off on April 1, 2012. This is an almost six-fold increase in labour welfare account compared to the 11th five year plan when a paltry sum of Rs 48 crore was allocated.
“We have seen that the younger plants are stronger in fighting against insects and pests and so Tea Research Association and United Planters’ Association of South India have been given the task of working on developing climate resistant clones,” said MG VK Bhanu, chairman, Tea Board.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of 3rd India International Tea Convention (IITC) at Goa. Nearly 350 delegates are participating in IITC, of which 100 are from overseas. Representatives from Kenya, Germany, UK, USA, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Egypt, Tanzania and Iran are taking part in the convention, which is the landmark event for all stakeholders in the tea industry.
The biggest concern for the Indian tea producers is the ageing tea bushes. In Darjeeling, for instance , 75% of tea bushes are between 50 – 100 years old. Data shows that 38% of the bushes in south and north Indian are between 50 – 100 years of age and thus the yield is very low compared to nations like Kenya and Sri Lanka, where the bushes are relatively young.
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Tea Board chairman also announced that they will clamp down heavily on low quality imports of tea that are meant for re-export . “Imported teas should comply with Food Safety Standards Act and will have to obtain certificates by Tea Board empanelled testing laboratories. We have also formed two tea councils – one in South India and the other in north India, who will keep a stringent vigil on the quality of imported teas,” Bhanu said.Chairman of Indian Tea Association CS Bedi said: “Warming trends have been observed in the north Eastern India, the major tea producing region in the country , coupled with a decreasing rainfall. This is the major challenge before the tea industry at present.”
(The author was invited to Goa by Indian Tea Association to cover the India International Tea Convention, 2012)
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