The Tea Board has urged the Commerce Ministry to take up the issue of exempting the tea industry from the glyphosate use norms announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
As per the new norms announced by the Centre, the use of glyphosate is restricted and no person shall use it except the pest control operators (PCOs).
Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide for ground applications to control weeds in the tea plantations for over four decades now. Grower organisations such as the United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) have sought exemption from the new glyphosate use norms for the tea plantations as it would add up to the costs.
Impacts cultivation
Tea Board, in a letter to the Commerce Ministry, said by restricting the use of glyphosate through PCOs, timely weed management will become a challenging task. This will result in substantial crop losses and an increased economic burden on small and marginal farmers already reeling under severe cost escalation. It will have an overall impact on tea cultivation, export and competitiveness in the international trade, sources said.
Considering the fact that about 6 lakh hectares of land are under tea plantations and that the small tea growers are mostly located in remote and hilly areas, the need for trained PCOs required to serve the entire Indian tea industry may not be a feasible option, the Board said.
The unavailability of PCOs in a large number of remote locations will impact weed control leading to significant yield losses.
Skilled enough
On the other hand, the pesticides handling personnel in tea gardens are already well experienced and skilled in using glyphosate for the last many years, following the norms specified by the Plant Protection Code of Tea Board India.
It also suggested that pesticide handling personnel of tea plantations, who are trained by the scientific personnel of Tea Research Institutes, on the safe handling of glyphosate as per norms followed by the PCOs, may be issued certificates duly recognised by Tea Board. Tea Plantations may be allowed to use the services of such trained personnel for the application of glyphosate.
States such as Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand have moved ahead to implement the new glyphosate sale and use norms.