Tea Board is to shortly come out with a notification on regulations in regard to use of pesticides and plant protection chemicals in tea crops.
“We’re introducing pesticide code developed by Tea Research Association for North India teas and by UPASI for the South Indian varieties as part of the integrated pest management exercise”, M.G.V.K Bhanu, Chairman of Tea Board, told Business Line .
"It will be mandatory for every producer to present before the auction the certificates from either of the two agencies confirming adherence to the code and buyers too shall not accept any tea unless accompanied by the certificate", he said.
Asked about the tea not being offered in the auction, he replied that gradually all teas, whether offered in auction or sold through private deals, would be brought under the purview of the proposed code. "It is just the beginning", he said.
Tea Board, as the Chairman pointed out, was for safe tea and had been vigorously campaigning for it for some time. "Safe tea is critical not only for export market but also for domestic consumption as nearly 80 per cent of the country’s production is consumed within the country”, he said.
He conceded that the majority of the gardens were already using pesticides within the permissible limits. But so far there had been no documentation or laid down guidelines at the industry level in regard to use of the chemicals and each garden followed its own rules. The proposed code would formalise the practices. "But then it is also true that there are some black sheep, miniscule minority, who would often bring a bad name to the industry", he observed. "These elements will now be eliminated".
Bhanu pointed out that last year there had not been a single case of rejection of export consignment on the ground of exceeding the maximum residue limit. Once the proposed code came into force, both buyers and sellers would feel reassured and as a result there would be better value for tea.
Tea Council which started functioning from June this year was monitoring export consignments. "No wonder, the average price of Indian tea in international market is now up", he added.