In the wake of a government report finding pesticide residues in some food items, state—owned Tea Board today said it has put in place a Plant Protection Code (PPC) to check excess use of plant protection formulation in the country’s tea plantation.
The Board said it conducts random testing of samples of tea at regular intervals to ensure that the PPC is followed strictly and curb use of unapproved pesticides and maintain use of approved pesticides within permissible limits.
“The Board is committed to ensure that no undesirable pesticides contaminate the teas produced in India... The Board is taking several steps to make tea cultivation more sustainable and reduce reliance on synthetic plant protection formulations to ensure that Indian tea continues to meet high standards for safe consumption,” the Tea Board of India said in a statement.
The Board has enforced a Plant Protection Code from January this year mandating tea growers and manufacturers to critically review and monitor use of chemical formulations, reduce their usage and apply the approved chemical formulations in the safest way possible, it said.
The objective of the code is to achieve sustainability through good agricultural practices, to gradually reduce the dependence on chemicals, thereby minimise possible negative impact of pesticides on humans, wildlife and environment.
A latest government report has found residues of pesticides in a significant number of vegetables, fruits, tea, milk and other food items collected from various retail and wholesale outlets across the country.
Residues of unapproved pesticides were found in 12.50 per cent of the 20,618 samples collected nationally as part of the central scheme ‘Monitoring of Pesticide Residues’, which was launched in 2005, the report said.
According to the Board, the PPC is the best practiced guide to tea production, setting standards jointly agreed by key stakeholders, supplementing and strengthening the existing regulations.
Every stakeholder in the supply chain, from tea growers to manufacturers, to bulk and packet tea sellers, all are following the PPC standards.
“This has helped the tea industry to produce teas where non—approved pesticides are not used and simultaneously in case of approved ones the MRL (maximum residues level) are not exceeded,” it said.
The Tea Board also said it has launched “Trustea” with an aim to sustainably transform the Indian tea industry. A Trustea verified unit does not use any pesticide or chemical formulations that have been banned by the central and state governments or their affiliated bodies, the statement added.