Mindful of increasingly stringent import requirements and a domestic market concerned about pesticide residue the Tea Board of India is enforcing the fifth revision of the Plant Protection Code.
The goal is to “achieve sustainability through GAP including IPM, promotion of alternative control strategies (biological controls etc.) to gradually reduce the dependence on chemicals,” according to The Economic Times. GAP (Good Agricultural Practices in the application of pesticides) and IPM (Integrated Pest Management) are guidelines developed by the FAO (Food Agricultural Organization) of the United Nations.
The code instructs growers in the safe use of approved pesticides and “encourages tea growers to critically review their use of PPFs (Plant Protection Formulations), reduce the use of PPFs where possible and over time, apply the PPFs in the safest way possible.”
The latest revision contains 37 formulations of approved chemicals include two new pesticides approved by the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee in the Ministry of Agriculture. The broad range of pesticides permits growers to select the most appropriate for use in widely varied climates that harbor many different pests.
Source: The Economic Times