COIMBATORE
WITH global consumption of organic tea bound to increase in future, large-scale production of such teas in India would assume considerable significance with the onset of liberalisation, according to a tea researcher.

While demand for conventional tea was declining, the market for organic tea had been growing since its introducion in the late 1980's, says N Muraleedharan of Upasi Tea Research Foundation at Valparai.

In his paper presented at a symposium at Kanaya in Japan, he said there was an urgent need to focus on retaining and improving competitive advantages of Indian tea which was going to face global competition. This could be achieved only by improving productivity and quality.

In this context, production of organic tea, a value-added product, assumed considerable significance, he pointed out. The price of organic tea was three to four times higher than conventional tea, making it very attractive to producers, despite the increase in production cost and low productivity of organic tea fields, Mr Muraleedharan said.

Stating that global consumption of organic tea had shown a 10 per cent growth in the last decade, he said the concept of organic tea was introduced in India due to the intervention of organic food buyers in Germany. Mr Muraleedharan said there had been a 20-fold increase in organic tea production in India during the last one decade, from 0.15 million kg in 1990 to three million kg in 2000.

Though the tea industry has gained considerable experience in producing organic tea, it faced problems relating to cultivation and marketing, he said. Stating that pests and mite infestation posed constant dangers, he said parasiotoids and predators, active in the tea ecosystem, would, to a certain extent, control pests. More than 160 species of insects and mites feeding on tea pests had been reported, Mr Muraleedharan said.

Suggesting methods to control the pests, he said organic tea production was expensive due to high labour requirements. Besides, the inputs of organic manure, bio-fertilisers and material used for pest control was also costly. Production cost would be at least 15 to 25 per cent more than conventional tea, he said, adding "Demand for organic tea was bound to increase, as the European market had grown by 25 per cent in the last 10 years.

"Moreover, countries with a major market for organic tea did not produce tea, resulting in rapid growth in demand. Organic tea was directly marketed and producers would have to travel extensively in these nations, especially in Europe and directly contact organic consumer groups.