Pesticide residues: A serious concern for Tea Industry

Uddhab Chandra Sarmah

(ucsarmah@gmail.com)

Before delving into the main issues arising out of the residual limits of chemical pesticides being used by the small tea growers of Assam on tea bushes for control and killing of pests to harvest the available crop which brings revenue earnings by selling to nearby bought leaf factories, let us understand why the Maximum Residue Level (MRL) of chemical pesticides is becoming increasingly important for small tea growers in Assam. The reasons are mainly as follows:

1. Regulatory Compliance: National and international markets have strict regulations regarding pesticide residues in tea. Meeting these MRL standards is essential for accessing and maintaining these markets.

2. Consumer Safety and Health: There is growing consumer awareness and concern about the safety of food products. Ensuring that pesticide residues are within acceptable limits helps in maintaining consumer trust and protecting public health.

3. Market Access and Export Potential: Compliance with MRL standards is critical for export markets, especially in regions like the European Union, the United States, and Japan, where regulations are stringent. Non-compliance can lead to rejection of consignments and loss of market access.

4. Environmental Impact: Excessive use of pesticides can harm the environment, affecting soil health, water quality, and biodiversity. Adhering to MRL guidelines promotes sustainable agricultural practices and helps in the long-term health of the tea-growing ecosystem.

5. Economic Viability:Non-compliance with MRL standards can lead to financial losses due to the rejection of tea consignments, fines, and loss of reputation. Ensuring MRL compliance helps small tea growers maintain economic stability and profitability.

6. Brand Reputation: Compliance with MRLstandards helps in building a positive brand image. Small tea growers can market their tea as safe and environmentally friendly, attracting more health-conscious consumers and premium pricing.

7. Government and Industry Support: There is increasing support from government bodies and industry organizations to help small tea growers meet MRL standards through training, resources, and certification programs. This support is crucial for the sustainability of small tea growers.

Therefore,by focusing on MRL compliance, small tea growers in Assam can ensure the safety and quality of their tea, meet regulatory requirements, protect the environment, and secure better market opportunities.

A very tense situation hadlately arisen concerning small tea growers (STGs) of mainly Upper Assam after the notice and declaration of closing down all bought leaf factories (BLFs) by Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association (ABLTMA) from June 5this year,till such time the STGs supplying the green leaves produce test certificates that their green leaves are free from any banned chemicals and are also within the limits of the approved chemicals under Plant Protection Codes (PPC).

However,due to the government’s intervention, the ABLTMA has withdrawn the warning of closure of BLFs.Normal functioning of all BLFs taking green leaves from STGs have been resumed.

Over the last 3-4 decades, both the Estate factories and the Bought leaf factories have produced teas by way of establishing a system of collecting green leaves from nearby or distant small tea growers with the help of some Agents in signed agreements for the entire season, and this system has been in vogue everywhere right from the beginning of the season. There must have been hundreds of cases of MRL issues during this period. But it is after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Tea Board took proactive stands recently on MRL exceeding approved limits and traces of residual toxicity of banned pesticides for tea plantations, thereby causing the closure of a few BLFs and Estate factories from producing teas,that these issues have come into focus of all tea consumers.

Because of stern action with issue of warning to all BLFs and Estate factories by the Tea Board to check samples of teas in NABL certified factories before dispatch —by ensuring that teas produced by each factory are free from toxins and are consumable as regular drinks —that the ABLTMA decided not to accept any consignment of green leaf without certificate of testing MRL.

The earlier decision taken by the Bought Leaf factories not to acceptgreen leaves without certificate of MRL clearance had created adesperate situation for small tea growers in maintaining their livelihoods. The Estate factories will not suffer since they can take all effective measures as necessary.

Although the situation between the STGs and the ABLTMA is looming large to create pressure upon the Central and State Ministries of Industry and Commerce and the Tea Board, the ground realities of the problem have neither been understood,nor is there any plan as to how these challenges can be resolved perpetually along with creating a roadmap for future sustainability.

It is to be noted that all BLFs are built for manufacturing tea from green leaves collected from STGs only, and to sell the final tea products to consumers either through auction or privately. Since the time the BLFs have come into operation, there has been a sharp growth of STGs over the last 3-4 decades. All BLF owners also have become financially sound with the business of sellingtea. Therefore, both the parties need each other to run the business comfortably and amicably like a big family.

Some of the most important areas which can be mentioned here are:

1. Owners of all BLFs are mostly dependent on their Agents, who collect and supply as per their assigned quantities of green leaves for the year.

2. The BLF owners are not usually found to be connected to each and every tea grower who happen to be sources. This system hampers the traceability operations which could have helped in finding out the root causes of MRL issues.

3. There is hardly any system of keeping collected green leaves separately from each Agent to govern quality and check tea samples for chemical residues.

4. The warning issued by the BLFs about checking MRL at green leaf stage was not properly thought through, because it’s not like checking human blood samples for blood sugar with glucometer. Hundreds of laboratories will be required to check NABL certified MRL of tea shoots, which is presently impossible.

5. Similarly,all small tea growers must be aware of the side-effects of each and every chemical, not only for the health of consumers but also for the health of their tea bushes which get affected over the years.

6. AWARENESS has to be developed to know each and every chemical used for pest control and diseases affecting tea, its doses, spraying techniques, and most importantly the interval time between the last plucking and the day of spraying. It must not be less than 7 days to take care of residues limits.

7. There must be a system of record keeping of dates and times for all chemicals used after plucking.

8. The owners of all BLFs must need to appoint experienced field persons or Agriculture graduates to supervise STGs by organizing good agricultural practices, book-keeping and other compliances as required for the desired raw materials, so as to produce the kind of quality teas required for both domestic and international markets.