Tea Times at Tocklai

Nearly 100 years ago, the world’s first experimental tea research station was launched in a remote corner of India. The Tocklai Experimental Station was founded by the Indian Tea Association (ITA) at Jorhat, Assam, as early as 1911. Subsequently, several other tea research institutes sprung up in Sri Lanka, Kenya and even in South India. But Tea Research Association, as the Tocklai-based station is called today, remains the parent body of all such institutes in the w orld.

Interestingly, however, the seeds of tea research were sown even before 1911. The scientific department of the ITA, then entirely controlled by European tea-planters, was launched in 1900 with the appointment of Dr H.H. Mann, who worked out of the laboratory of the Economic Chemist to the Government of India at Indian Museum in Calcutta. At the initiative of Dr Mann, a field experimental station was set up at Heelaleak, Mariani. In 1906, an entomologist was appointed at Cachar, the tea-growing area in the Barak Valley, Assam. The experimental station at Tocklai was set up to centralise the work of various branches.

During World War I, the scientists were called upon to participate in active service. After the war, some of the scientists came back and decided to increase the number of European staff at the station. Accordingly bacteriologist, chemist, biochemist, botanist and agricultural officers were appointed. In 1930, the Empire Marketing Board agreed to bear half of the cost of botanical research at Tocklai for five years.

But the Great Depression of 1931 dealt a blow to the tea industry and with it Tocklai was also hit. The Calcutta central office was closed and the services of some of the scientists were dispensed with. In 1935, a Commission headed by F.L. Engledow, Professor of Agriculture, Cambridge, was appointed to inquire into the functioning of Tocklai. Its findings fully endorsed the policy of the Indian Tea Association. Between 1937 and 1939, several recommendations were implemented, including formation of the London Scientific Advisory Committee, initiation of an annual conference of planters’ representatives, and appointment of new staff. But work at Tocklai suffered again during World War II.

In 1948, ITA broke into two and Pakistan Tea Association was formed following the Partition of India in 1947. In 1951, the ITA’s chemical laboratory was set up in London to investigate the chemistry of made tea.

Tocklai boasts several achievements down the decades, right from introduction of annual prune and pest-control prior to 1950, down to the development of bio-pesticides, package for pest control and establishment of pesticide residue laboratory during the 1990s.

The achievements in the past three years have been many. A model tea factory functions within the TRA campus in Jorhat, processing technique has been modified to enhance brightness of tea liquor and a scattered matrix developed based on withering and fermentation behaviour which help blend different cultivars having uniform behaviour during processing. TRA also has to its credit several laurels in the fields of diversification, field practices, plant improvement and biotechnology.

It has been identified as the nodal institute for five multi-institutional projects funded by the Department of Biotechnology to the tune of Rs 5 crore. One of these projects would help release clones in four years. At present, nearly 60 per cent of the tea gardens in the North-East are covered by TRA-developed clones. The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has for the first time awarded Neem Mission Mode Project to develop neem kernel extract formulation to reduce pesticide load in tea.

TRA is also associated with several international projects, including one on understanding the molecular mechanism of Darjeeling flavour in association with Kyoto University, Japan; and a project on remote sensing and GIS inputs for pesticide scheduling, fertiliser scheduling, and drainage and irrigation planning in partnership with ITC, Netherlands. Discussions are on with Cranfield University for a project on soil health. It is also exploring EU funding for certain projects. “Our standard of research is at par with that in any other top-class research institute but our problem is that we’re not articulate enough to market ourselves,” says Dr M. Hazarika, Director of TRA.

But not everything is hunky dory at TRA. What started as an industry-funded venture has now turned largely into a government institute with its usual problems. Industry funding is now limited to around 30 per cent of TRA’s resources. This is presumably because, as Dr Hazarika explains, tea industry is no longer homogeneous. Resource crunch remains a permanent headache, with 90 per cent of available funds going to staff salaries. Yet the employees are not happy because their retirement benefits do not include pension. “We need more funds and more young research scientists because the average age of our existing scientists is rising,” Dr Hazarika observes, adding, “the authorities concerned must take a proper view in this regard”.