Wednesday, September 7 2005 15:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: Reviving the Vedic method of cultivating tea, growers of the `elixir of life' in the North East Region are experimenting with growing organic tea to give a healthier option to the drinker free from pesticides.

In a bid to give alternative to the tea drinker in place of the conventional one grown with chemicals, tea planters from Assam have set up estates to exclusively grow organic tea as per the ancient scriptures and also to create a pollution free environment.

One such effort that has experienced commercial viability is the one set up at the foothills of the Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh, nestled among snow-capped mountains, set up by the Saharias from Assam.

Initially, they had crossed river Brahmaputra to Roing in lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal, abode of the Gandharvas as per ancient scriptures, in 1998 for establishing a conventional tea estate using chemicals, as is the practice in their and other tea gardens.

However, the turning point for the garden `Abali' came in 2000 when a massive flood damaged a large portion of the 32 hectare tea garden due to deforestation upstream on the river, one of the tea planters Binod Saharia told sources.

After reclaiming all the land devastated by the deluge, Saharia said the option of adopting organic tea cultivation was explored and various methods were studied to convert the tea estate into a chemical-free one, improve soil and plant health with organic inputs made from local resources.

Also recognising the commercial potential of organic tea abroad where such products commanded premium market brand equity, Saharia said Abali organic tea was cultivated primarily as per the Ayurvedic practice detailed in ancient Sanskrit agricultural text `Vraksh Ayurveda' by Surapala about 5000 years ago.

The urgency for experimenting with organic farming was also to regain the lost market share by India, world's largest producer of tea, and the immense medicinal properties of the beverage which was a rich source of flavonoids (anti-oxidants) that prevent heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, cataract and Alzheimer's disease, he said.

Maintaining, "the use of chemicals to boost yields actually attract pests to the tea bushes as some are attracted to their sweetness", Saharia said, "This then requires further increased use of pesticides to protect the leaves."

To replace the chemical pesticides, the garden adopted alternative local plant origin insecticides and growth promoters such as `karang' (pongamia pinata) and other solutions provided by the local village headman conversant with traditional methods.

"Similarly trying to reduce dependency on fossil fuel, we planted `nahar' (mesua ferrea) and `karang' trees whose oil can be extracted by just boiling to be used in place of diesel to run the machines", the planter said.

Keeping in line with sustainable agriculture, the plucked green tea leaves are transported to the tea factory in bullock carts saving precious fossil fuel by not using the conventional tractors, he said.