The Hindu Business Line : Centre to fund three tea-related projects

The Ministry of Commerce, as part of a new initiative to give tea research in Assam a leg up, has decided to adopt a consortium research approach, under which the Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Regional Research Centre (a CSIR-affiliated institution), and Tocklai Experimental Station of Tea Research Association, Jorhat will work jointly on three Centrally funded projects.

The projects are: a) Tackling the menace of tea mosquito (Heliopeltis), which can be most damaging to the tea crop, b) Developing the molecular gene map of tea (identifying the gene markers to improve quality and also develop new varieties), and c) Countering the perennial problem of water-logging in Assam's tea gardens by developing a water-resistant crop. (Some two lakh hectares are said to be affected by this problem).

Speaking to Business Line recently after visiting the 100-year old Tocklai Experimental Station at Jorhat, Mr Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said that the `Heliopeltis' project, for which the Department of Biotechnology will spend Rs 2 crore, would be taken up first.

While the gene markers project will get Rs 1.4 crore, the one for development of water-resistant crop will get Rs 62 lakh. The Minister said that IIT, Guwahati will also be involved in the joint research projects.

According to Mr Ramesh, the Tea Board is examining the scope for setting up as many as five tea co-operatives in Assam, essentially to usher in cost-effective practices among the first-generation small tea growers in Assam, who number 40,000.

He said that the idea was to utilise the services of both tea associations and SHGs to run these bodies, which may function under a Tea Board Directorate likely to come up in Assam.

Stating that small growers in Assam do not get remunerative prices, he said that the Assam Tea Producers Association was planning to send a delegation to Kenya and Sri Lanka to study the co-operative systems.

The Minister said that of the 1.10 lakh small growers in the country, some 50,000 are in Assam, accounting for 25 per cent of the State's tea production, and 14 per cent of all-India production.

There is also a plan to introduce geographical indications (GIs) for Assam for better export competitiveness to its tea through a diversified export basket.

Nilgiris tea is soon expected to get a GI tag. Both Darjeeling and Kangra Valley teas now have GI recognition.

Mr Ramesh said that there is also a plan to set up India Tea Centres in Teheran and Cairo, two of India's key tea export destinations, this year.

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