The United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI) has urged Tea Board India to revive Tea Council, both, in north and south India, to monitor tea exports and imports.
M.P. Cherian, president of UPASI, said in a release that according to 2021 data, though south India’s share in total tea production in the country was 17.50 %, it’s share in the total exports was 42.02 %. There was no conclusive evidence regarding recent reports of rejection of tea consignments by some importing destinations.
The largest auction centre in Kochi was periodically testing all producers’ auction teas. These teas had MRL (Manufacturing Readiness Levels) far below the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) specified residue levels. Every consignment of tea was analysed not only for the pesticide residues, but also for heavy metals and microbial load. Tea consignments were shipped only after the buyer had tested the sample of each consignment and approved it. The Tea Board should immediately revive the Tea Council to monitor all exports.
The UPASI said its tea members adhered to high standards in production by ensuring that the teas were within the residue levels laid down by the various standards/statutes. UPASI members were regularly advised to follow the protocols prescribed while applying pesticides. Further, the long plucking intervals followed in south India facilitated safe harvest intervals specified for each pesticide. The UPASI Tea Research Foundation (UPASI-TRF) recommended pesticides approved by Central Insecticides Board (CIB) and the industry followed these stringent guidelines on the MRL limits.
Based on the standards adopted, it had developed Plant Protection Code (PPC), which was in place for the compliance by the Industry. Though several pesticides had been registered for pest control in agriculture, the choice for widespread application in tea was limited to a few chemicals for which the Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) had been declared by several countries and international organisations.
Further, pesticide usage in south India was need based. The member tea gardens of UPASI used pesticides that were cleared by the UPASI TRF for use in tea. UPASI-TRF was also recommending non chemical pest management strategies such as use of cultural, botanicals, pheromones and microbials, it said.
