Limalenden Longkumer
Mokokchung | October 16
For Nagas, tea is the most popular beverage. Ironically, however, locally processed tea is not available in the market and huge amounts of money are being drained off from the state’s economy for tea imports. Sources at the Mokokchung Chambers of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) informs that Mokokchung town alone has an actual market volume for tea estimated worth Rs.2.5 crores per annum, all of which are imported from neighboring Assam to meet the demands.
Tea plantation and production in the state of Nagaland has never been undertaken on a commercial scale by the farmers, although the climatic conditions as well as soil and altitude are conducive. “This is due to the fact that cultivation of tea is not widely publicized and not much is known about the method of tea cultivation,” asserts S.Sosang Jamir, Assistant Plant Pathologist (APP) at State Agricultural Research Station (SARS), Yisemyong, Mokokchung. He also observes that tea farming is found to be more sustainable than ‘Jhum cultivation.’ “In recent years, Naga farmers are gaining interest in commercial tea cultivation. However, tea cultivation is labor intensive and highly technical,” he asserts.
“It was thus felt necessary to establish a Tea Demonstration Unit to provide basic guidance to farmers, to produce quality clones and to take up need base research on tea,” the APP at SARS adds. The Tea Demonstration Unit at SARS Yisemyong was established in 1993 with the main objectives to develop an alternative and sustainable farming system, to provide training to trainees and tea growers, to experiment and screen out suitable varieties for the state, to provide seedlings to tea growers of the state, and to develop technology suitable for Naga farmers.
Sample tea seedlings and saplings were collected from various centers and the most suitable ones were screened out and ‘clonal cuttings’ were raised, which were planted and preserved as mother bushes in the farm as well as sold to farmers at subsidized rates. The tea nursery at SARS Yisemyong is now approved by the Tea Board of India and is a registered member of Tocklai Tea Research Station.
Presently, the total area under tea plantation at SARS Yisemyong is two hectares. On-the-spot training on scientific tea cultivation is also being imparted to trainees and tea growers. The tea unit which started as a demonstration center is today upgraded to Tea Husbandry Unit and is engaged in raising quality clones, conducting experiments to develop appropriate technology suitable to Nagaland and imparting short and long term vocational trainings on tea cultivation.
A mini tea crusher machine with a capacity to crush 1200 kgs of tea leaves per day has been installed this year. With the installation of the processing unit, some processed tea has been made available in the market as local chemical free tea, according to S.Sosang Jamir.
It is observed that commercial tea cultivation could salvage the state’s sorry economic quandary and, perhaps, redress the growing unemployment distress to a commendable degree. And for the tea cultivation enthusiasts, SARS Yisemyong shouldn’t be too far away a necessary destination.
