Tea - Another trip to Indonesia

I made another trip to Indonesia in Aug/Sep 2009. South Java trip first to Rachmat Badrudin's plantations and then a look at Ciwangi Estate (in Cianjur district, close to Sukabumi). The good thing was that after the visits we went off to Bali - the earthquake struck 6 hrs before we flew back to Jakarta.

Above are are some photographs of Rachmat's estate & then Ciwangi estate below.

The industry in Indonesia has tremendous potential to improve quality and crop and threatten the so called 'big boys'. What is lacking is the investment into machinery and training. Some investments could give a ROI (return on investment) of less than 12 months. And it could take the individual estate/company onto another level. The technology in the field, like in most of the growing countries is the same as we have been doing for generations. Many things have changed and are changing. An excerpt from my forthcoming article on 'Climate Change and the Tea Industry' runs as follows " The Climate Change will cause more intense weather -
i. More violent storms/winds/… ( cyclone Aila hit W Bengal, and has caused a complete disruption to the monsoon rains.)
ii. More intense downpours/flooding/…(We saw what happened in Mid August in Darjeeling causing huge land slides and erosion. If we had addressed certain steps to prevent erosion the effect would not have been that devastating.)
iii. Change in Wind patterns/velocity
iv. Change in monsoon patterns (2009 monsoon !!)
v. Change in rates of evaporation
vi. More fog/mist/smog
“Change is the one constant in life. We must realize that if we want to see things remain as they are THINGS WILL HAVE TO CHANGE: everything around us is changing.” What we can change is the way we deal with change and the way we are changed by change.
Right now, the acute awareness of the true scale & speed of the problem remains confined largely to a precious few, but soon enough it will be blindingly obvious to everyone. We need to start working on making changes to our agricultural practices to mitigate the effect of the changes coming about in our climate."The World is concerned about Climate Change, Green House Gasses, CO2 emissions,…. Let us not use Climate Change as an excuse for our inadequacies. Climate change is blamed for crop losses, droughts, pests, erosion,… you name it. If we resign to this we will never find ways & means to overcome things that might still be in our hands (or at least to a great extent). Yes, you can not do anything about CC in the short run, to make a difference to your immediate problems. But we can work to find what we can do to change our practices & systems to mitigate the problems."

And then we went to Sanur Beach,Bali. Wow!!! Kuta was like the Calangut/Baga of Goa, But Sanur was great.

But by far the best time was with my Nasim, Shivy and Angel in Jakarta.

To School in Rain; a Rainbow

The lush pest free garden

Namchic Team - Sudhir, Ashok,Bordoloi

Looper caterpillar walking to his death

Pest Control with NO Chemicals- The Namchic Story

Namchic is a young little garden nestled up in the Arunachal foothills in Changlang district, close to the Burma (Myanmar) border. Planting started in the year 2000 & the area has steadily grown to 120 hectares of a mix of high quality tea plants. Most of the garden comprises of the following clones - S3A3, P-126A, TV-1,TA-17, N-436 & T3E3.
As can be expected in gardens with a major area covered in high quality clones, the pests have been quite a nightmare. Helopeltis, Red Spider mites and Green fly have been the major cause of the garden spending almost Rs.7000/ ha in an effort to control these pests in 2008. The incidence of pests & cost of control has steadily increased each year. The situation in Dec ‘08 & Jan ’09 was worse, thanks to the worst drought since this plantation began.

The list of chemicals being used & the volumes of them was frightening. But then many other ‘well-organised’ gardens are even more frightening. They had asked for help in mid 2008 in controlling pests but I declined then; I told them that my suggestions would be so dramatically different from the ‘tredmill-of-chemical-controll’ they were on, that they would reject them outright. However, during the process of training the staff and executives on other aspects like plucking, pruning, young tea management, etc. the executives would keep wanting to know more and more about pest control specially because their problems continued to get worse. In the late evening training secessions this would keep coming up & as I saw interest build up, I slowly started whetting their appetite : -

a) “ The laws of nature demand that we look at the whole system . To control any individual organism, we need to understand how it relates to the ecosystem in which it operates.”-John Teasdale –a scientist with USDA Agricultural Research Services
b) “ We must change our philosophy, abandon our attitude of human superiority and admit that in many cases in natural environments we find ways and means of limiting populations of organism in a more economical way than we can do it ourselves.” - Canadian entomologist, G.C. Ullyett in 1950 s.
c) Talking about the ideal conditions in an estate when there is a delicate balance in the whole estate & its surroundings - when pests increase the predators have more food & so their population increases, and pests reduce. When the pests reduce the predator’s food reduces & so their population comes down.
d) This delicate balance is what sustained agriculture for centuries till we started wanting to dominate nature. Then came the chemicals and things have never been the same.
e) I started identifying beneficial insects in Namchic & showing in the field how some of them were being killed by the chemicals being sprayed.

Finally by January 2009 their interest had built up enough and they were really keen on this change. They were ready & so I became the change agent. From that day the chemicals were removed from the garden ( I asked each assistant to keep a can of their favourite chemical in the store, as they might feel more comfortable with them at hand. But these were not to be used without my prior permission. They were not touched). The rest of the 30 + chemicals were sent off to a partner’s garden.

I then started on the Whole Ecosystem approach to pest control and 6 months on I am amazed with the sterling work the whole team has done. It is actually far far better than I could have wished for –
· the pests are under good control
· the garden is looking very healthy
· the costs are down
· the ‘poisons’ are out of the system
· the crop is 46.13% up till end of July

I did not expect such wonderful results in such a short time. But they are there to see. Some of the major negatives have actually become positives – e.g. the jungle all around the garden is normally held responsible for the sheltering of helopeltis and looper; we have found them being used as safe havens by our many beneficials. They have actually helped build up the beneficials population very fast. The whole management team needs a commendation.

What all has changed and happened at the estate –

· We generally concentrate on the tea plant and especially the leaf we harvest. But to manage a tea plantation well, it is important to understand that the tea plant is only one of the many parts of the tea ecosystem. This ecosystem is composed of many parts, including the tea plant, shade trees, other plants, the soil, insects and diseases that feed on the plants, insects and animals that feed on the pests, the weather, the pruning & plucking policy and many other parts. Every part has a function & each part affects the other parts, helping to maintain balance and stability.
· A comprehensive approach to nurturing populations of beneficials has been adopted
§ rearing fields, conservation buffers and other methods to attract build the beneficial organisms that protect our crops.
§ Beneficial predatory and parasitic organisms generally do not flourish in fields with only one plant species. They need ‘overwintering’ sites & different types of microenvironments – where they can find protection from their own natural enemies. These have been created by letting natural vegetation grow along waterways, bare patches, roadsides …. In future no big plots of the same clone will be planted in one area
· There is a tremendous increase in ladybird beetles, praying mantis of different types, predatory wasps, spiders, dragonflies, birds….
· Pests generally succeed by adapting to the specific food, water, shelter & light conditions in a particular farming system. They explode only when external factors upset this delicate balance. By the stopping of chemicals we have partly ensured least upsetting of an important external factor.
· We are not neglecting the golden opportunity to prevent, even while we seek to cure.
· With chemicals removed we have introduced some biocides etc – neem, karanj (Pongamia pinnata) & beauveria bassiana. But the whole idea is to slowly ease these out too, as the balance in the environment gets established. We have also started on some of our own concoctions prepared from plants & waste.
· Even for nutrition we have started making some concoctions from waste and these have recently been introduced in some young teas, to slowly ease out fertilizers.
· The obsession with having the garden weed-free is out the window. We tolerate a bit of weeds as long as they don’t compete too much with the tea plants. And we try and encourage the softer weeds to takeover from the noxious ones.
· Last month we were observing a looper caterpillar walking along a citronella leaf and suddenly we saw it being attacked by a spider which swallowed its head & would not let it go. (they gave me time to take a few photographs – these are shown below).
· The population of cobwebs has grown. We saw a helopeltis caught in one of them. So with the population of webs growing a lot of the adults are going to keep becoming the spiders prey. We also saw another spider pounce upon a wasp & eat it (see photograph).
Lots of things nature is taking over, we just need to keep aiding nature.

We are trying to use the four basic principles of IPM:
1. Grow a healthy plant. Strong, vigorous plants are better able to tolerate insect damage. Pests can never be completely eradicated, so don't try! Instead, manage them at a tolerable level that balances costs and benefits (including economic & environmental) and also provides food for the predators.

2. Protecting and helping natural enemies. Many natural enemies live naturally within the tea field. Others live in wild plants in nearby fields. Just like the crop and pest insects are managed, natural enemies also must be managed so that they become abundant and effective.
3. Regular field surveillance, observation and analysis. The planter team must have good and latest information to make decisions. Pests, natural enemies, the growth stage of the crop, and weather are among the factors that should be observed and analyzed. If there is a presence of or build-up of beneficials, then do not go in for biocides.
4. The management in the field needs to become the experts. They must have confidence in their own knowledge and their ability to make their own decisions.
Would this be the best or easiest way to go organic?

Fertilizers - - 42.65%
Herbicides - - 19.98%
Pesticides - - 34.35%
Mandays - - 13.07%
Plucker’s Productivity - + 8.52%
Crop + 149262 - + 46.13%

The Mature Tea Yield is going to cross 3000Kgs/ha at current trends.

Phassus Borer back again

The bore covered by gelly like excreta- small grubs in it

The borrer removed from the branch A crissilad found in the soil in collar region

Below - Hybiscus plant affected by the Phassus borer

Thick burrow of the large phassus in the hybiscus stem after it was snapped there

This is further to my post on the subject earlier this year. By combing the whole area we had got about 3500 bushes which were pruned to live wood and then burnt immediately close to each location. That was done by March 3rd week. On the 4th & 5th of July '09 we have found 15 newly affected bushes. The team has again been put on it, but this time we do not have much damage as yet. However, the problem is that we have found the same borrer in a Hybiscus plant. I have put this plant under a mosquito net in the chance that we get to trap the moth to see what it looks like. I shall be grateful if someone could let me have a photograph of the moth.
I am posting some photographs taken over my visit earlier this week.

Meeting on Promotion of Organic Tea Cultivation

The meeting which we were scheduling in early July will have to be pushed back a bit because some of us are not being able to get together as early as that. Shall inform the details as soon as we have them sorted out.
Harki

Promotion of Organic Cultivation of Tea

The Small Tea Growers (STG) of Upper Assam are taking a lead in going organic. On the 13th of June,2009 a group of planters got together to discuss the possible road to take to promote conversion to organic. The meeting was also attended by Dr.BP Barua of TRA, Binod Saharia, Subhas, Sunil & Vikash Aggarwals,LP Barua, Ashim Bordoloi, Hemanta Gohain & Asif Hazarika.
This is good news for the industry as it is the way we need to be headed.
To take this further, we are holding a meeting on the 2nd of July in Dibrugarh district where we want to discuss the way forward. I am going to request all organisations interested in taking this direction to come down to attend this meeting.
The country is spending a huge sum of money in subsidies for fertlizers and we need to aproach the Tea Board to give subsidies for converting to Organic. It will save a lot of money for the government, reduce the carbon footprint, reduce residues, improve the environment,.... It is a win win for everyone,
The details of the date, the venue will be communicated over this blog, in addition to the mail id s of all the ones we have.

"Phassus" Borer

All in BLUE is the note from Dr.A.BABU, Head, Division of Entomology, UPASI Tea Research Foundation Tamilnadu, India

The "Phassus” Borer - Hepialid Borer,”Sahyadrassus malabaricus (Moore) Hepialidae :
Lepidoptera), a large caterpillar, endemic to south India. It is often referred by its previous generic name "Phassus" which attacks several forest trees including the teak and eucalyptus. More than 50 species of plants are recorded as host for this pest.Adults have grey forewings with faint mottlings Male produce sharp, pungent, mustard like smell by the scent glands Young caterpillars bore into the stems, excavate long cylindrical tunnels, eating of bark and sapwood resulted in cankers. Top end of the tunnel opens into cankers. Feeding takes place at night . It can move forward and backward with equal ease Attacked bushes can be easily located by the frassy mat, formed of powdered wood and silk, hanging near the holes.
Eggs are broadcast by the female in flight. A few succeed in tunneling the tea stems. Caterpillars make very long galleries that can go down to the roots Mature larva is pale yellow, pencil thick and 6-10 cm long. (We have found some mature larva that are pinkish/red too). Larval duration is 10 months. Pupates in the lower part of the tunnel. Pupal period lasts for 3-5 weeks. “Control measures: The tunneling was found deep into laterals too. And the newly hatched grubs were also seen way up in the tunnels. So that gives us the following two options for now(till we learn more about the pest):
1. Cultural –
a. The affected branches may be cut to sound wood & the cut pasted for protection.
b. The branches /plants pruned off should be removed onto an open area and burnt. The branches should be carried out in bags..
2. Chemical –
a. “The larvae may be killed in situ by pouring a strong solution of an insecticide like Endosulfan/Quinalphos by using an ink filler and plugging the holes”. A syringe could be used with advantage.
b. However, after seeing the extent of tunneling & the location of the grubs I would not recommend this – maybe when there are only isolated cases of infestation, this could work...

teachai.blogspot.com

The Stem Borer from Namchick estate in Arunachal,INDIA

This big stem borer has suddenly been causing a lot of damage. Going around the estate earlier this week I observed a lot of damage. Much more than thought earlier. On putting some workers on detecting & pruning-off till live wood, we have found about 15 plants per hectare that had to be uprooted/collar pruned. And this is what is visible. The team is now going around other areas in the estate in dealing with the affected plants.
The measures being taken are - prune down to live wood, paste the cut, remove the pruned part of the bush out onto a road & burn the lot. Bags are being used to carry the bushes out for burning.
We started splitting the branches to look at the borer (note the attached photographs) we discovered that the larvae, in great numbers, were tucked up in some smaller branches too. The tunnelling too is all over the plant's main stems. Thus I decided that the treatment was to remove affected branches & burn them.
I have asked Director TRA,Jorhat & Director UPASI to have a look at the photographs and let me know what borrer it is. To me it appeared very similar to the 'Fassus Borrer' that was prevelant in Coffee in South India, or was it East Africa ?