The organic way
The Korakundah biotea project in Upper Bhavani of Nilgiris district is one of the highest organically grown teas in the world. Of the 2,500 acres, only 800 acres is tea plantation. The rest is rolling grasslands, shola trees and gurgling streams. Organic orthodox black tea, green tea, decaffeinated tea and CTC tea are manufactured here and exported to Europe, US and Japan.
"This estate went organic in1994. Since it is isolated, organic cultivation had every chance to succeed here,' says K. Jagan Thimaiah, manager of the estate. He agrees that the yields do come down in organic cultivation. "But you make up for it by realising higher prices,' he avers. The estate uses vermiculture, biodynamic methods and natural manures. Korakundah has a vermiculture shed which uses cow dung, water, jaggery, banana stumps, earthworms and dry leaves. The estate also grows its own fodder for the cattle. "We make 8,000-10,000 kg of vermicompost and 500 tonnes of compost per year, which is the main manure. About 25 tonnes of compost is used per hectare. Other things used are panchakavyam, fish waste liquid manure and bio-dynamic preparations involving cow dung and 5 herbal plants,'explains K M Kalappa, assistant manager of the estate.
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