TeaChai:

TeaChai:

Integrated Weed Management - ideal for all plantation crops

Mechanical Harvesting

Yellow sticky traps - Plummeting insect numbers

Yellow sticky traps -plummeting insect populations

The Yellow Sticky Traps: Like with most weapons, they are good when used judiciously but can be disastrous when used indiscriminately. 

Workshop to Manage Pests & Pesticides in Tea

I am holding a workshop in Calcutta (Tolly Club) on the 17th of October 2014 on Managing Pests in Tea, using the Whole Ecosystem approach. Initially using pesticides  only as a last resort & then slowly phasing them out. There is a huge emphasis on creating a balance in the environment. So looking closely at predators & parasitoids and providing them little pockets to multiply & protect themselves from their own enemies. 

I look forward to who ever can make it for the workshop. I am appending a note I am circulating to the various stakeholders. I am trying to get all stakeholders represented at this workshop.

Warm regards

Harki

                       Managing Pests & Reducing Pesticides

                               WORKSHOP on 17^th October 2014

                              at the Tollygunge Club ( 10am to 5pm)

We have seen many of these headlines (& more) flashed across the media:

•        Pesticides in Indian tea, says Greenpeace India

•       

•        Tea from Indian Brands Have Pesticides: Study NDTV Cooks

•        Ban on WHO Class 1a & 1b chemicals & phase out of Class II

•        NO 2,4-D    *   NO PARAQUAT *  Sri Lanka bans Glyphosate

•        Tea Board curbs use of Pesticides & Chemicals

•        Tea Board, UPASI & TRA defend - Indian teas ‘SAFE’.

•        Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI)’s Position Paper on GP

•        Planters worried over TBoI rules - Aug. 27: The industry, … has expressed its inability to comply with the Tea Board of India’s stipulations on type & amount of pesticides & fertilisers.

•        Toxic tea report: Agrochemical industry body (CCFI) sues Greenpeace, seeks Rs.50 cr. in damages

 Planters asking -  “ WHAT do we DO?!  HOW do we MANAGE? ”

There certainly is a way out. To help find this Tea Technologies Outsourcing is holding a day long workshop on the 17^th of October in the Tollygunge Club. Those who want to really look for the way out, and willing to look beyond what we have been doing for decades, are requested to be there. While some are criticizing and others defending the chemicals & MRLs, lets start working at a real way out.  

Register by sending the appended form to teatechos@gmail.com. There are no sponsors, no donors & no funds with Tea Technologies Outsourcing and so we will require those attending to contribute Rs.2500/- per person.  Detailed programme of the workshop will be communicated in due course to the registered participants. We are trying to get most stakeholders to be there. All I can assure you is that we are not going down the well beaten path that has lost a lot of its relevance in todays changed environment / scenario. In case the numbers are small, we will still go right ahead, as the issue is big & the need huge.  ­­

Look forward to your participation

Harki Sidhu

Te@ Technologies Outsourcing

                                        

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Wood ash as fertilizer

Wood Ash - a useful Agriculture input.   (Sri Lanka visit March 2013)

1. Sri Lankan plantations are generating a lot of wood ash as the stoves & boilers are fuelled by wood. This wood ash is generally being disposed in landfills or dumped into unplanted valleys. For plantations & the environment these are not good options.
2. For a long time wood ash has been used in agricultural soil applications as it recycles nutrients back to the land. Wood ash has value as a fertilizer (other than Nitrogen). Because of the presence of calcium carbonate it acts as a liming agent and will de-acidify the soil increasing its pH.
3. Wood ash has a high char content is effective as an odour control agent, especially in composting operations.
4. Typically between 0.43 and 1.82 % of the mass of burned wood (dry basis) results in ash.  Also the conditions of the combustion affect the composition and amount of the residue ash, thus higher temperature will reduce ash yield.
5. Wood ash (WA) contains:
1. calcium carbonate as its major component, representing 25 or even 45%. 
2. Less than 10 % potash,
3. less than 1 % phosphate
4. there are trace elements of iron, manganese, zinc, copper and some heavy metals 
5. However these numbers vary as combustion temperature is an important variable in determining wood ash composition. All of these are, primarily, in the form of oxides.
6. Uses:
1. Wood ashes contain potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium which encourage strong root and stem growth.
2. It is water soluble & so quickly increases the soil’s alkalinity.  It’s a good substitute for garden lime / Dolomite.
3. Application rates must be determined by the pH of the soil. If pH is less than4 then 50% K can be applied as WA. If between 4 and 4.4 then 30% of the K, if between 4.4 & 4.5 then 10% of ‘K’ can be applied. However, it is best to try this out on a few sections to see how much it is affecting the pH in the particular estate’s soil.
7. How to use:
1. Broadcast evenly on the soil & then take a rake and fork it in lightly. Keep it away from the collar region of young plants. Break down any clumps since a heavy concentration will result in a potentially harmful salt spot once it gets wet.
2. Apply when the soil is dry, it’s not windy (and at least 3 weeks before planting out Young Tea). You can also add them to the compost pile (about every 6″ or so), this helps reduce odours and increase the rate of decomposition.
3. Those from hardwoods contain more nutrients than found in softwoods. Also those from young wood contain more nutrients than those from older wood. It is best to analyse these different types of wood ash to determine the nutrient contents.
4. Store WA under a shed and sealed in airtight bags. If the ash gets wet in the rain the nutrients will seep out with the water (which is fine when they’ve already been applied to the soil but not before). In inorganic estates it can be packed in old fertilizer bags & sealed.
5. PPE : Wear eye protection, a mask, shoes and gloves when handling, since it can be harmful if you breathe it in or it gets in your eyes.
6. It is also a natural pest repellent.  Bugs such as garden slugs and snails aren’t fond of scraping their bellies across the ashes so they’ll move on to find more friendlier ground.

In Organic agriculture we use a lot of Wood Ash & Urine (normally cow urine) but here is some more on human urine. There was an article on BBC website in 2011 on how human urine helps in quickly decomposing compost heaps and adding nutrition to it. Of course, we as RA can NOT recommend this, but I thought I will append this for information ONLY.

Harki Sidhu 

Just for Info:

Sustainable Fertilizer: Urine And Wood Ash Produce Large Harvest

Sep. 17, 2009 — Results of the first study evaluating the use of human urine mixed with wood ash as a fertilizer for food crops has found that the combination can be substituted for costly synthetic fertilizers to produce bumper crops of tomatoes without introducing any risk of disease for consumers.

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In the study, Surendra Pradhan and colleagues point out that urine, a good source of nitrogen, has been successfully used to fertilize cucumber, corn, cabbage, and other crops. Only a few studies, however, have investigated the use of wood ash, which is rich in minerals and also reduces the acidity of certain soils. Scientists have not reported on the combinaton of urine and wood ash, they say.

The new study found that plants fertilized with urine produced four times more tomatoes than nonfertilized plants and as much as plants given synthetic fertilizer. Urine plus wood ash produced almost as great a yield, with the added benefit of reducing the acidity of acid soils. "The results suggest that urine with or without wood ash can be used as a substitute for mineral fertilizer to increase the yields of tomato without posing any microbial or chemical risks," the report says.

Potash (/ˈpɒtæʃ/) is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.^[1]The name derives from "pot ash", which refers to plant ashes soaked in water in a pot, the primary means of manufacturing the product before the industrial era.

Today, potash is produced worldwide at amounts exceeding 30 million tonnes per year, mostly for use in fertilizers. Various types of fertilizer-potash thus comprise the single largest global industrial use of the element potassium. Potassium derives its name from potash, and was first derived by electrolysis of caustic potash, in 1808

Terminology

Potash refers to potassium compounds and potassium-bearing materials, the most common being potassium chloride (KCl). The term "potash" comes from the Old Dutchword potaschen. The old method of making potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) was by leaching of wood ashes and then evaporating the resulting solution in large iron pots, leaving a white residue called "pot ash". Approximately 10% by weight of common wood ash can be recovered as pot ash.^[2][3] Later, "potash" became the term widely applied to naturally occurring potassium salts and the commercial product derived from them.^[4]

The following table lists a number of potassium compounds which use the word potash in their traditional names: