The Hindu Business Line : Organic tea development project launched

Kolkata, Sept. 19 The Tea Board, in partnership with the Inter-Governmental Group on commodities of Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO-IGG), the UN body, the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), another UN outfit, and International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement (IFOAM), launched the organic tea development project here on Friday.

Explaining the scope of the project, Mr Basudeb Banerjee, Chairman of Tea Board, said the three model firms — one each in Darjeeling, Assam and Kerala — would be launched as part of the capacity building initiative. Tea-centric international standards relating to certification mechanism would be developed, the demand for the organic tea worldwide would be assessed and accordingly marketing strategies would be firmed up.

The three tea gardens identified for implementing the projects are Ambootia Tea Estate belonging to Sanjay Bansal Group in Darjeeling, Maud Tea Estate belonging to the Lohia Group in Assam and Kundalay Tea Estate belonging to Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company Pvt Ltd in Munnar (Kerala).

The three-year project would cost around $4.05 million, to be funded partly (about 40 per cent) by CFC, another 40 per cent would come from the participating tea firms and the balance from the Tea Board. The CFC funding, amounting to $1.6 million, would comprise grants ($0.64 million) and soft loans ($0.97 million).

Research related

The Tea Research Association, Tocklai, Assam, Darjeeling Tea Research & Development Centre in Kurseong, West Bengal, and Upasi Tea Research Foundation, Valparai, Tamil Nadu, will be responsible for undertaking research in model farms to be established in existing plantations.

A critical issue, as the Tea Board Chairman pointed out, related to the assessment of organic tea demand, which would determine the overall project impact. Right now, the world production of organic tea was estimated at 20 million kg, 50 per cent of which was in India. China produced green tea, mainly for domestic consumption, while Indian black tea was almost entirely for exports, especially to Europe.

The launching ceremony was also addressed by Mr Kaison Chang, Secretary, FAO-IGG on Tea, Ms Anne Boor, Project Director, INFOAM, Mr N. Chen of CFC, Mr Aditya Khaitan, Chairman of Indian Tea Association and Mr Sanjoy Bansal, Chairman of Darjeeling Tea Association.