Tocklai Tea Research Centre

The Tea Research Association (TRA) is a registered co-operative society dedicated to scientific research and  extension for improvement in productivity and quality of tea in the North East (NE) India. Research on all aspects of tea cultivation and processing is carried out at Tocklai Experimental Station, Jorhat the oldest and the largest research station of its kind in the world. Transfer of technology to its member estates is carried out through its advisory network covering South Bank, North Bank, Upper Assam, Cachar, Do oars, Darjeeling and Terai. Tocklai has its substation at Nagrakata. All outstations/branches have well equipped soil testing laboratories. Membership is voluntary .

Since its inception in 1911, Tocklai has been serving the industry and has become synonymous with the research on tea in the country .It has unfurled technological knowledge in tea from time to time. The phenomenal increase in production of tea in N.E. India, from 234 million kg in 1951 to about 669 million kg in 1998, clearly underlines the impact of R&D activities on production. The average productivity of TRA member estates covering 75% of the total tea growing area of the N.E. India is about 56% more than that of Non-members in the region which is a glaring outcome of effective implementation of Tocklai's R&D result.

Advantages to membership include

            *Advisory visits to estate.
            *Specialist visit to site specific problems.
            *Direct interaction between scientists and tea planters.
            *Supervisory staff training.
            *Training courses on Tea Culture|.
            *Lecture courses for planters.
            *Soil and water testing service.
            *TRA publication free of cost.

Contact address
Secretary
Tea Research Association 113, Park Street
9th Floor
Calcutta- 700016
Tel: (91)-(033-2291815) (91)-(033-2293813)
Fax :(91)-(033-2294279)

Director General
TRA, Tocklai Experimental Station Jorhat -785 008
Assam, India
Tel: (91)-(0376-360467)
Fax : (91)-(0376-360474)
e-Mail : TRATOK@ASM.NIC.IN

Research and Development
Research and development works are carried out in eight research departments - Botany, Soil, Agronomy, Plant Protection, Biochemistry, Engineering and Manufacturing Technology, Statistics and Agricultural Economics and Tea Tasting. At present about 18 research projects are in operation. Tocklai also provides service functions like soil analysis, testing of agrochemical, identification of pests and disease samples, supply of elite planting materials etc. besides publication of research journal "Two and a Bud", Annual Scientific Reports, Occasional Scientific Papers, Bulletins, Leaflets etc.
Some of the contributions to the industry through the R&D efforts of Tocklai are :

• Technique for vegetative propagation of tea by internodal cuttings.
• Development of 30 high yielding and better quality clones and l4 hybrid seeds. Helped the industry in selecting 154 region specific clones.
• Invention of           Mc Tear Rotorvane
                             Borbora Continuous Leaf Conditioner Continuous Tray Drier
                             Borua Continuous Roller
                             Tea Breaker-cum-Stalk Separator
                             Green Leaf Storage Device
  
• Shift from annual prune to longer pruning cycle for higher yield and better distribution of crop.
• Optimization of plant population.
• New techniques of bringing up young tea which drastically reduced the gestation period from planting to full bearing.
• Land planning, drainage and balance manuring for higher productivity. Soil Amendment techniques.
• The establishment of a light even canopy of shade for tea plantations in the plains ofN.E. India.
• Introduction of safer pesticides for effective pest and weed control with emphasis on Integrated pest management.
• Introduction of bioagents- Trichoderma and Bacillus for control of certain tea diseases and their formulation for commercial application.
• A database of pesticide residues in tea based on multi-locational supervised field trials.

R&D Activities in Tocklai

Planting Material: TRA has so far released 30 clones and 14 hybrid seeds to the industry. It has helped the industry in selecting 154 region specific clones. A large number of polyploids have been produced for commercial exploitation. Biotechnological approach has so far contributed in standardization of tissue culture technique, development of haploid and rapid clonal multiplication. Initial success has been obtained in genetic engineering through protoplast isolation and culture.

Nutrition: Region specific requirement of major and micronutrients for tea has been optimized. Breakthroughs in productivity have been achieved through balanced manuring with micro and secondary nutrients like zinc, magnesium, boron sulphur etc. Recommendations are made to tea estates on the basis of soil-test crop correlation and response from location specific trials. The importance of organic matter status in the soil and integrated nutrient management has been emphasized. Studies are in progress to improve the fertilizer use efficiency. Soil fertility management in organic tea production is also being pursued.

Drainage, Irrigation & Soil Conservation: Catchment planning at estate level is being practiced to tackle the drainage problem. Remote Sensing Technology is utilized to identify the geomorphic units to formulate drainage planning based on topography and geomorphology. Regular updating of knowledge on drainage needs. Biodegradable jute geotextiles have been found effective in reducing soil erosion.

Physiology : Valuable findings have been made on Harvest Index, benefits of shade, diurnal change in dry matter accumulation, and stimulation of vegetative growth by growth promoting substances. Application of Growth Promoters has increased yield by 12-14% .More leaf area in the top 10 cm of the canopy, higher Leaf Area Index, low photo respiration and higher assimilate partitioning towards the growing two and a bud shoots are the characteristic features of high yielding clones. A protocol for the cryopreservation of tea seeds has been developed in collaboration with the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi.

Agrotechniques : Longer pruning cycle was introduced for increasing total crop and obtaining an even distribution of annual harvest. A crop increase of 7-20% can be obtained by adopting pruning cycles of different lengths.

Janam plucking produces best results under N.E. Indian conditions and standard pluckings at 7-9 days intervals is best for a balance between crop and quality.

It was found that Shear plucking could be an aid to hand plucking during the peak cropping period from July to September. It could increase the pluckers productivity by 40-60%, use of plucking machine could increase the productivity further to 211% per manday over hand plucking.

A high positive correlation could be observed between mean monthly temperature and crop distribution. The thermal time required by buds to attain pluckable shoot size was found to be 389 day-degrees without limitations of environmental factors.
Rejuvenation pruning, infilling and consolidation has increased productivity by 2-4 times.

Pest and Disease: The present approach has been to find out bio-pesticides without any hazards of residues and environmental pollution. In the light of increasing awareness about adverse effects of pesticide residues in food on human health, which is often reflected in adoption of more and more stringent regulations by many countries, a well equipped pesticide residue laboratory was establish at Tocklai. The facilities were utilized to generate residue data for establishing Maximum Residue Limits (MRL ) of pesticides in tea with a view to developing safe plant protection schedules and pre-harvest intervals (pm) to help the tea industry to meet a more quality demanding market. The laboratory also caters to the need of the Industry for monitoring invoice tea samples for pesticide residues.

Efforts are also directed towards integrated approach to pest and disease management through uses of, biocides, parasites, predators, cultural methods and safer chemicals. For biological control of pests, survey for natural enemy complex of pests is in progress. Experiments on mass breeding of promising species of parasitoids and predators of the major tea pests are also in progress under controlled laboratory conditions.

Aerobiological and climatic studies have enabled to forecast certain diseases for taking up prophylactic measures. Studies indicate that bioagents like Trichoderma viride and T harzianum control Poria hypobrunnea, Charcoal stump rot and Brown root rot diseases and Bacilluj' subtilis for Black rot caused by Corticium sp.

Tea Chemistry : The contributions of theaflavins (TF) and thearubigins (TR) towards colour , strength, briskness and creaming properties of the brew, the role of chlorophyll in appearance, and volatile components like linalool for flavour and quality have been established.

Tea Machinery : The important machinery's developed by Tocklai and extensively used by the industry are Mc Tear Rotorvane, Withering Tunnel, Continuous Tea Tray Drier, Continuous Fermenting Machine, Borbora Leaf Conditioner, Boruah Continuous Roller, Tocklai Tea Breaker, Leaf Storage System and Continuous Withering Machine.

Collaborative Projects: Tocklai has also taken up a few collaborative projects with some leading institutes of the country which include making tea manufacture a continuous process by integrating a PC-based monitoring system, studies on the pharmacological values of tea, studies on the physiological and medicinal values of tea, tissue culture and advanced studies on the ground water potential in some selective areas of North East India.

Some Priority Areas :

• Development of superior clonal and seed cultivars suitable for different agro- climatic conditions of N.E. India by both natural and created genetic variability. Haploidy and polyploidy breeding through conventional as well as biotechnological techniques.
• Balanced nutrition involving macro and micro nutrients and integrated nutrient management.
• Further studies on photosynthesis, respiratory loss, growth regulators, biogenetic pathways, Harvest Index and region-specific requirements of shade.
• Generating database for establishing Maximum Residue Limits for pesticides in tea and to develop safe plant protection schedules and Pre-Harvest Interval for tea.
• Studies on distribution pattern and abundance of natural enemies for identification of newer species.
• Biological control of pests and diseases of tea.
• Studies on Pheromone of different pest complex of tea.
• Elaborate studies on mycorrhizal symbiosis and the management of rhizosphere microflora for releasing locked up phosphorus from acid soil.
• Studies on fungal toxins responsible for different disease causing organisms.
• Identification of microbes and their role in nutrient metabolism.
• Studies on quality parameters, increased cuppage and pharmacokinetics of tea.
• Studies of mechanization of plucking and pruning to increase the labour productivity without impairing yield and quality.
• Design and development of machinery that would make the tea processing continuous and more effective in terms of capital, labour and maintenance.
• Studies on heavy metals in made tea and tea soils of N .E. India.

Transfer of Technology :

The Advisory Department with its extension network throughout the tea districts of South Bank (Tocklai), North Bank, Upper Assam, Cachar, Do oars (Nagrakata Sub Station), Terai and Darjeeling deals with the transfer of technology at field levels. The results of R&D have been made more effective and meaningful through this network of advisory centers. Effective dissemination of technological know-how and creation of a meaningful communication link between the industry and research are achieved through the following means :

a) Estate Visits: Two to three routine visits are paid to each estate in a year to advise on time specific problems on various aspects of Tea Husbandry. Need based or special visits are paid to attend to problems not covered by routine visits.

b) Area Scientific Committee (ASC) Meetings/Seminars: The ASC meetings/seminars are held in different regions covering agricultural subjects and Engineering and Manufacturing Technology to get feed-back from the industry on various problems and research needs and to help dissemination of technical knowledge and information amongst members of TRA. This is a forum of interaction between Scientists and Tea Planters.

c ) Supervisory Staff Training: Training of supervisory staff of tea estates is also undertaken to transfer technology to the grass root levels. It helps in the percolation and understanding of the art of technology from top to grass root level.

d) Other Training Courses: Five-Month General Training Course in Tea Culture and Six- Week Vegetative Propagation Course are organized at Tocklai for the employees of member estates. Such courses are arranged for the Government sponsored candidates from non-traditional tea areas of N.E. India also.

e ) Lecture Courses: Short-term courses for planters on subjects like Field Management, Soil and Water Management, Engineering and Manufacture Technology are held at Tocklai.

f) Publications: Of the other means of transfer of technology the most important ones are publications of Encyclopedia Serials, Advisory Bulletins, Advisory Leaflets, Wall Charts, Special Bulletins, Occasional Scientific Papers etc. Besides these, a half yearly journal "Two and a Bud" and Annual Scientific Report are published regularly to keep the Industry aware of the current activities of TRA.

Service Functions :

The major service-functions of Tocklai are to carry out chemical and biological soil tests for formulating fertilizer schedules and eel worm estimation respectively, water tests for ascertaining suitability for use in tea manufacture, testing of a variety of agrochemical and other materials used in growing of tea such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, plant growth regulators, agricultural equipment and identifications of diseased plants. In addition, the Manufacturing advisory cell takes care of the problems related to tea machinery and processing. Tocklai helps planters in non-traditional areas with planting materials and providing appropriate package of practices for growing and processing of tea.

Tocklai has contributed immensely towards the growth and development of the Tea Industry in N.E. India since the day of its inception by providing R&D inputs from time to time. Limiting factors were removed by R&D breakthroughs, which were made possible due to the sincere, and hard work of all concerned with R&D activities at Tocklai. Throughout its long history the Industry has gone through periods of stresses and strains; it is the faith the Industry has in Tocklai even during periods of crisis that motivates our Scientists and workers to put their efforts together for the progress of this premier Research Institute in the world.

TEA RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

Regd. Office
Tea Research Association
113 Park Street, 9th Floor Calcutta -700 016
Tel: 2291815,2293813 Telegram: TEADVANCE Fax : (033) 294271

Upper Assam Advisory Center Dikom -786 101 Assam
Tel: 0373-87-537
Telegram: ADVICE DIKOM
Rly. Station: Dibrugarh
Air Port : Dibrugarh

Cachar Advisory Center Silcuri -788 118
Cachar, Assam
Tel: 03842-21038/ 0381-22-4879
Rly. Station: Silchar
Air Port : Silchar

Terai Advisory Center Bengdubi
Siliguri -734 424
Dist. Darjeeling
West Bengal
Tel: 0353-20154, 20559
Telegram: ADVICE SILIGURI Rly. Stn: New Jalpaiguri
Air Port : Bagdogra

Tocklai Experimental Station Jorhat- 785 008 Assam
Tel: 0376-360476, 360467
Telegram: SCIENCITA
Fax : (0376) 360474

North Bank Advisory Center Thakurbari -784 503
Dist. Sonitpur, Assam
Tel: 0371-42-2056 & 2122 Telegram : ADVICE THAKURBARI
Rly. Station: Thakurbari
Air Port : Tezpur

Nagrakata Sub Station Nagrakata- 735 225
Dist. Jalpaiguri
West Bengal
Tel: 03563- 72073
Tel: 03563- 72003 Telegram: ADVICE NAGRAKATA

Darjeeling Advisory Branch
15 Coochbehar Road, Darjeeling- 734 101, West Bengal
Tel: 0354-52070 Telegram: ADVICE DARJEELING
Rly. Stn. : Darjeeling
Airport : Bagdogra