Two new tea plant clones with properties to tolerate the drought conditions while boosting productivity were launched on Thursday at the 50 annual general meeting of the Tea Research Association (TRA).
Additional Commerce Secretary Rajani Ranjan Rashmi said that development of better clones to address the problem of climate change was one of the main challenges before the TRA.
The Union Commerce Ministry, together with the Union Health Ministry, was working on a scheme of harmonisation of standards to help improve quality, Mr. Rashmi said.
He said that total area under tea cultivation had remained almost static at 5.7 lakh hectares over the last 40 years, but tea output had achieved quantum jump from 200 million kg to 1,200 million kg.
“The challenge is to make this sustainable,” he said. He also asked tea growers to refocus on exports.
Indian Tea Association Chairman A. N. Singh highlighted the changing weather pattern, stressing the need for harmonisation of standards of various inputs used for tea cultivation. Nigel Melican, D. N. Borbora Chair on Tea Quality and Manufacturing, stressed the need for mechanisation in the tea industry, saying that this was inevitable and part of a global trend.