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Key provisions of a law that came into effect on September 1 to cut the use of pesticides in tea estates has been put off to January 1.
The Tea Board, in a circular, said that other provisions of the law on plant protection code will come into immediate effect.
The provisions whose implementation has been put off include norms stipulating that water used for spraying should be on the recommendations of tea research institutes; undertaking by estates that each consignment leaving a unit should have declaration from the manager that only recommended plant protection formulations have been used; and a declaration that no chemical that is banned in the country has been used.
The plant protection code, notified in March, spells out norms of how chemicals will be used safely in tea cultivation. The objective is to minimise the use of pesticide and ensure sustainability through good agricultural practices. The Tea Board had issued a directive on the code in March, exercising powers it draws under the Tea Marketing (Control) Order, 2003.
The code is also aimed at addressing issues of pesticide residue being raised by importing nations.
The code has been developed by a technical panel consisting of members from the Indian tea industry, tea research institute of UPASI Tea Research Foundation, the Tea Research Association, international certification bodies and the Trustea advisory committee.
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