The Director of Arunachal Pradesh Trade and Commerce Tokong Pertin today urged tea growers of the state to follow the Tea Board of India's regulation on pesticide application in Tea cultivation through Plant Protection Code (PPC) with effect from January 1 next year.
"The Board will allow very few chemicals to be applied in Tea cultivation for controlling pests and diseases as approved by the Central Insecticidal Board (CIB) with fixed maximum residue limit in Tea against each chemical," Pertin said in a release here.
This is a serious issue to be addressed by the tea growers of the state as tea manufacturing agencies would surely deny purchasing of green leaves having chemical residue beyond MRL or containing banned chemicals, Pertin said.
Pertin urged the tea growers of the state to follow the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices developed and designed by Tocklai Tea Research Institute (TTRI), TRA, Jorhat, Assam for the benefit of both the big agency houses and small tea growers. Tea growers must have to avoid the application of chemical pesticides not recommended by CIB and TRA, he said.
