Departments

Aim:

The overall aim of the Advisory Department is to ensure transfer of technology and feedback on problems of the tea industry to the research scientists.

The major objectives of the Advisory Department of Tocklai are:

1. Advisory visit to the member tea estates (routine and special on request).
2. Feedback on problems of the tea industry to the laboratory/research scientists.
3. Identification of problems in tea estate level and to provide necessary suggestions to
4. overcome.
5. Creation of data bank for evaluation of agro-practices on regional basis.
6. Evaluation of Tocklai recommendations on regional basis.
7. Soil test to provide suggestions on various soil ameliorative measures and manure
8. requirements etc.
9. Multiplication and distribution of elite planting materials.
10. Transfer of technology by lecture courses, field level workshops, training-cum-demonstration
11. programs, in-house seminars, special seminars and demonstrations on time relevant topics,
12. awareness programs, introduction of new technology and regular publications etc.
13. Training of small tea growers.
14. Meteorological data recording and processing for suggesting appropriate actions to be
15. taken up by the tea industry to overcome weather constraints.

Thrust areas:

• Precision agriculture
• Development of climate smart agro technologies
• Field mechanisation
• Integrated weed management
• Screening of alternate/ cash crop for sustainability
• Shade manipulation to mitigate strategic requirement
• Integrated nutrient management for rationalisation of NPK and other major and micro nutrients

Thrust areas:

• Generate information on various biochemical components of fresh leaves, their changes during processing and end product
• Correlate between chemical composition of tea liquors and commercial value
• Study the effect of various agro-practices and climatic conditions on quality of tea
• Technology for product diversification and value addition in tea
• Scope for extraction, isolation of biochemical with medicinal value
• Working with BIS/ISO for development and validation of analytical methods related to quality and food safety
• Tea Processing and Quality improvement of black, green and speciality teas.
• Process parameter optimization under changing scenario of tea production in North Bengal.
• Study the seasonal variation of chemical and sensory profiles of leaf biochemicals & made teas from different cultivars.
• Selection of cultivars based on quality characteristics.
• Standardization of innovative & customized tea processing machineries

Vision: Tea Improvement and Diversification through Biotechnological Research.

Mission: To carry out basic and applied multidisciplinary R&D work in the fields of biology and biotechnology.

Thrust Areas:

1. R&D for genetic improvement of Tea plants through biotechnological methods.
2. Molecular analysis of the Tea plant for Abiotic and biotic stress.
3. Value addition and product diversification by development of value-added nutraceuticals and therapeutic products
4. Microbiome study and identification of tea microbes and insects through molecular study
5. Tissue culture and Micropropagation

Mission and Vision:

To boost sustainable tea farming in North-East India by developing Integrated pest Management (IPM) programme, which may help overcome the problems related to the use of pesticides and their residue

Thrust area:

• Integrated management of pests
• Bio-ecology of pests and their behavioral study.
• To prevent crop loss due to pest attack by promoting bio-intensive, eco-friendly and cost effective IPM technologies.
• Exploration of natural resources, development of mass culture techniques as a component of IPM and their commercial exploitation
• Development of insecticide resistance management strategies against major tea pests

Thrust areas-

• Assessment of promising clones under Long Term Trial.
• Assessment of promising seed stock under Long Term Trial.
• Screening of reserved germplasms for abiotic stress tolerance.
• Selection, collection, conservation and evaluation of germplasm.
• In situ conservation of old Assam jats.
• Development of strategies for management of abiotic stress by application of growth regulators, osmoprotectants, antioxidants and antitranspirants.
• Identification of region specific clones
• Development and evaluation of biclonal hybrids.
• Selection, collection, conservation and evaluation of germplasm.

Aim

To develop a sustainable tea production system through improved soil management practices, systems simulation and natural resource management.

Objectives

• To develop quality organic manures and alternate sources of soil nutrients for reducing chemical fertilizer use.
• To systematize integrated nutrient management and its component for tea.
• Identification of natural resources for enhancing soil carbon pool for maintaining inherent soil fertility and soil health.

Thrust areas-

• Soil health management
• Soil organic carbon
• Soil compaction
• Biological properties
• Agro-chemical impact
• Soil organic carbon

• Nutrient management
• Nitrogen
• Potash
• Sulphur
• Nano –fertiliser

• Water management
• Water conservation
• Irrigation & fertigation
• Water logging (Drainage)

• Waste Management
• Biochar
• Enriched compost
• Humic substance

Mission and vision

To develop a package of practices for sustainable integrated disease management practices to reduce the load of chemical pesticides as well as utilisation of beneficial microbes as a component of integrated nutrient management in tea.

Thrust areas:

• Utilisation of available natural resources as a tool for IDM including indigenous microbes and herbs
• Application of PGP microbes in disease protection and increasing crop productivity
• Use of microbial technology in reducing inorganic fertilizer
• CDM for faster degradation of biomass and production of value added organic manures.
• Use of endophytes in tea cultivation
• Microbial quality estimation of black tea
• Mass production of quality bioproducts for use in tea industry and thereby revenue generation for the organisation
• Needbase advisory services to the tea industry to sort out disease related issues and suggestions of remedial measures.

Aims and Objectives

• The Tea Processing & Manufacturing Advisory Department is engaged in the improvement of tea processing to improve quality of tea; application of various technologies for optimisation of space, power and labour requirements in factories; tasting of commercial tea samples to suggest improvement in the method of manufacture for improvement of quality; processing and assessment of experimental tea samples for different departments and experiments on packaging and storage of tea and on other commercial products used in the factories.
• The department in collaboration with the Biochemistry Department advises the Tea Industry on factory layout, design specification of machinery and various aspects of tea processing.

 Thrust areas-

• Improvement of quality through optimization of manufacturing parameters
• Development of new processing techniques
• Development of tea machineries
• Tea Tasting
• Manufacturing Advisory Service
• Training of garden management personnel
• Mechanization in tea
• Application of sensors during tea processing

Objective:

• Analytical Quality Control (AQC) processes and procedures to be designed to ensure that the results of laboratory analysis are consistent, comparable, accurate and within specified limits of precision.
• Delivering quality in all our work, providing accurate results on time by using the best appropriate technology and methods plus improve our processes for the better performances.
• Delivering customer satisfaction by listening to and exceeding customer expectations, adding value for customers through our services and seeking innovative solutions to help our customers achieve their goals.
• Maintain a team of talented and competent staff and train them on new techniques, create an environment to foster team collaboration, trust, loyalty and commitment.
• Demonstrate and uphold integrity, professionalism and transparency in all our activities and respect towards our customer’s needs.
• Conscious care of environmental health and safety and operating the laboratory through responsible environmental policies

Vision

• To be an environmentally friendly and reputable market leader to ensure sustainability and food safety in tea through accredited analytical support and effective guidance.
• To be a full service provider for contract research on MRL fixation or revision of pesticides & heavy metals in tea as well as new generation contaminants as required by National (FSSAI, CIB-RC) and International (EU, FAO-WHO, Codex) regulators.

 Mission

• To be the one stop testing service provider to the tea industry of North-East India and help their products conform to the national and international quality regulations on food safety.
• Care & no compromise on quality – “test and certify products; our families can use”.
• To be a preferred partner for contractual research from National-International Regulators and manufacturing industries.
• To continually enhance the level of client satisfaction through most technologically advanced portfolio of services in the industry and expand our client base in domestic and global markets.

Tocklai’s knowledge base on tea is reflected in the sheer amount of tea literature that it has
produced over the years. The biannual journal Two and a Bud is a major publication. TRA’s
newsletter Tocklai News regularly publishes notes and articles that are of practical importance
to planters. Advisory bulletins, advisory leaflets, special bulletins and occasional scientific papers
are also published by Tocklai on regular and topical basis. The Annual Scientific Reports give a
detailed account of the research and advisory work carried out by the Association. Several books
on different aspects of tea science, including those on tea manufacturing and tea tasting, have
also been published. Publications like the Tea Encyclopedia and Science & Practice in Tea
Culture have acquired cult status in the industry.
Some of Tocklai’s best-selling publications were recently converted into Ebooks for easy
accessibility. An online bookstore was subsequently introduced on TRA’s website
www.tocklai.org to make these Ebooks readily available to interested readers. TRA’s member
gardens are eligible to purchase these Ebooks at subsidised rates.

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