INDIA LEADS IN ORGANIC TEA PRODUCTION
India is the leading producer of both non-organic
as well as organic tea in the world. The entire Indian production
of organic tea is exported. The major destinations are UK, Germany,
USA and Japan. The other major organic tea producing and exporting
countries of the world are Sri Lanka and China. The major competitors
of India in total tea exports are Sri Lanka, Kenya, China and
Indonesia. The organic tea was introduced to the world market
in the mid-1980s. Over the past decade, its consumption has grown
by more than 10% per year globally. However, in volume terms,
the trading in organic tea is very insignificant when compared
to the black tea. At present, there are 42 tea gardens in the
country that have taken up organic tea cultivation in an area
of 6000 hectares and the current production level is around 3.5
million kgs. which marks an increase of twenty-fold over ten years'
period, with the production in 1990 being only 0.15 million kgs.
National standards for organic products have been formulated and
Tea Board of India has been designated as the accreditation agency
for tea. The Tea Board has also submitted a project proposal through
the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) aimed at development
of technology and system of organic tea production by setting
up model organic farms, for funding by the Common Fund for Commodities
(CFC). Financial assistance is also being provided by Tea Board
for imparting training on organic methods of cultivation. At present,
there are no certified small growers in the organic tea sector.
However, Tea Board's training programmes for development of organic
tea cultivation will also cover small growers in due course.
