In a one of its kind unprecedented initiative in the history of tea plantation in Assam, small tea growers of Karbi Anglong have embarked on a mission to produce purely organic tea.
With this noble ambition in sight, small tea growers of four different self-help groups of the hill district assembled on Monday at Kekang Adong village, Deithor for training on organic cultivation of tea.
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This first of its kind training and orientation programme held in the vicinity of the pristine hills of Karbi Anglong amidst tradition and customs of small tea growers was organized by Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited.
These growers were previously undertaking tea cultivation in primitive ways, that is, naturally.
As many as 49 small tea growers were trained on organic practices of tea cultivation and certification.
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Usages of locally and naturally available herbs and leaves were identified and their utility and usages were practically demonstrated to the participants.
Previously, they were not aware of the benefits of these naturally available herbs and leaves which were never used by them in their respective tea fields.
Dr Pradip Baruah, chief advisory Officer of Tea Research Association (TRA) situated in Jorhat along with Sanjay Kr Dutta, deputy general manager of Amalgamated Plantations, Arwind Awasthi, senior manager, Lattakoojan Tea Estate, Rituraj Borkakoty, acting manager of Lattakoojan Tea Estate and Jaman Ahmed, assistant manager of Lattakoojan Tea Estate were the chief architects of Monday’s training cum demonstration programme.
Dr Debojit Bora of Tea Board of India briefed the participants about different schemes of the Tea Board available for the benefit of small tea growers of Karbi Anglong district.
The initiative of Lattakoojan Tea Estate of Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited deserves appreciation since this is one of its kind initiative towards organic cultivation of tea where small tea growers of Karbi Anglong were offered holistic package of agri solutions from cultivation to factory delivery.
Words of gratitude from one of the small tea growers of Karbi Anglong in his own dialect, saying, “training nangeke endun apot Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited pen akaro pilo”, after attending the training programme on organic tea cultivation says it all about the success and its long term implications.
The organizers of this unique training programme, while sharing their experiences with Northeast Now after completion of the day-long programme, exuded confidence that the organic tea from Karbi Anglong in due course of time will have its own identity for safe and environment friendly tea.