Nepal Tea Development Corporation (NTDC), which owns the oldest tea gardens in the district, has launched a campaign to boost production of organic tea. Triveni Sanghai Group has taken the gardens owned by the corporation on lease.[break]
BK Pradhan, manager of Ilam Tea Factory, said they have hired a technician from Bangalore to ascertain whether or not their product contain chemical residue. “Experts are exploring the possibility of starting production of organic tea in our gardens,” he added.
India has already announced that it would not import tea produced going against Integrated Pest Management (IMP) system from 2013. This system is known as a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks.
NTDC decided to switch to new mechanism for production after it faced difficulty in export tea last season. Triveni Sanghai Group, however, claims it has not come across such a situation so far.
“We have not faced any problem so far as we export our products to markets in third countries,” he said, adding that the objective was to completely switch to organic production before any problem arises.
According to Tea and Coffee Development Board, tea farming is done in more than 13,080 hectares in Ilam under the corporation. As Triveni Sanghai Group processes tea leaves produced by other farmers, it is important for other farmers to switch to organic farming first.
“We use such chemicals only after they are approved by our official agency,” said Sanghai.
He said NTDC would adopt organic measures in Sanghai and Kanyam tea gardens in the first stage.
It takes at least three year to get certification of organic tea.
About 90 percent of tea produced in the district is exported to India. At present, three big industries are producing certified organic tea. Tea produced from these factories is exported to Germany, United States, Japan, Slovakia and China, among others.
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