FOR THE RECORD -- 83:

INDCOSERVE SETS IN POSITIVE TONE TO GET OVER COVID-19 PANDEMIC CHALLENGE..

HOMEDALE & CROSSHILL TOP THE AUCTIONS..

INDIA'S TEA PRODUCTION CRASHING..

INDIA PULLS DOWN GLOBAL BLACK TEA OUTPUT..

INDCO'S TEA HOUSE INAUGURATED..

CTTA EARNINGS ROSE TO ALL-TIME HIGH..

JAPANESE MODEL FOR TEA AUCTION ..

TEA BOARD FIXES LOWER AVERAGE PRICE FOR GREEN LEAF..

UNUSUAL RAIN HELPS QUALITY TEA OUTPUT ..

(articles in The Assam Review and Tea News, January 2021)..

By P S SUNDAR

(Response can also be sent to : pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)

 HAPPENING -- 7:

ECO-RESTORATION AND MOBILE APPS LAUNCHING BY INDCOSERVE

 

BY P S SUNDAR

 

The Indcoserve, India’s largest tea cooperative federation headquartered in Coonoor in The Nilgiris district and managed as a co-operative under the Government of Tamil Nadu state has come out with massive modernisation projects balancing technology with the tradition of eco-friendly manufacture of tea.
 
In pursuit of this, the Chairman of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Dr G R Chintala inaugurated two significant projects at the Indco Tea Factory in Kattabettu village near Coonoor.
 
The first was an Eco-restoration project – a joint venture of Indcoserve and an NGO, Keystone Foundation.
 
Dr Chintala said that since the work for the project commenced in September 2020, the eco-system around Kattabettu has undergone mentionable improvements.
 
He said that NABARD will assist five Indco factories for modernisation at an outlay of ₹ 18.54 crore. 
 
The Principal Secretary to TN Government Supriya Sahu who is also Chief Executive Officer of Indcoserve, said that Indcoserve will become a leader in promoting environment sustainable manufacture of tea.   This is significant because more than 200 tea factories function in the Nilgiris Biosphere which spreads across 5,200 square kilometres enriched with unique flora and fauna in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.  Consequently, these tea factories bear responsibility to protect this biodiversity by adopting eco-sustainable manufacturing practices, she emphasised.
 
She said that invasive plants in the locality were removed and shola trees planted as part of this project.   A ‘Wetlands Park’ and an “information Centre” have been established there to strengthen awareness creation for the benefit of the public at large, she said.
 
While Kattabettu factory is the first of the 16 Indco factories under this project, she said that eco-restoration work is under progress in Mahalinga factory as well.
 

“As for modernisation, Kattabettu tea factory has been renovated to manufacture high quality teas, including speciality teas, to provide a national and international platform to the tea small farmers", Supriya Sahu said.

This includes a state-of-the-art tea tasting room and conference facility to enable buyers sample the teas in the premises itself”, Supriya Sahu said.

 
The Nilgiris district Collector Innocent Divya said that tea factories should focus on preserving ecology and help framers get better prices.

Appreciating the efforts, Coonoor MLA Shanthi Ramu urged Indcoserve to modernise all the 16 factories.
 
Kattabettu Indco Factory Chairperson Sumathi was among those present. 
 
The second project which Dr Chintala inaugurated at Kattabettu was “Indco’s Tea House’, a cafeteria serving top quality teas of Indco factories.   This is the second such outlet, the first being the one in Bedford Coonoor inaugurated in November 2020.

 
Following this, Dr G R Chintala launched two hi-tech mobile applications at Indcoserve headquarters in Coonoor.
 
Appreciating the efforts of Indcoserve, he said that this is the need of the hour as it will help to increase the productivity.  He said that NABARD will focus on helping farmers meet their challenges and market their farm produces.
 
Indcoserve’s Adviser Srinivasan Sreeram, who was the leader for this project, highlighted the technical features of the Apps and explained how it would help to improve farmers’ profitability.
 
Supriya Sahu said that of the two Apps, one is “INDCO@TEA” aimed at helping the 30,000 small growers who are members of the Indco factories rise to better trajectory with on-time information including green leaf price, payments due to them, field practices and weather pattern.

 
The other App “Ooty Tea” aims at enhancing sales through regular monitoring especially at Public Distribution System outlets and rations hops, she disclosed.

This occasion also brought cheer to the tea lovers in Tamil Nadu
as they can henceforth buy at affordable price at their ration shops and enjoy the unique aromatised ‘Cardamom flavoured Tea’ which is a connoisseurs’ delight.
 
This follows the launching of the same by Indcoserve.  “This ‘Ooty Tea Yelakkai’ ( Elachi tea) will be available along with our flagship brand ‘Ooty Tea’ in ration shops.  We will introduce more varieties soon”, Supriya Sahu said.
 
The Indcoserve Chairman Sivakumar, General Manager M Akbar, Deputy General manager Sankaranarayana Pillai, Chairmen and MDs of Indco factories were among those present.

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com) 
 
 

 FOR THE RECORD -- 82:

SPECIALITY TEAS AT ALPHA CAFEEE IN COONOOR..

MARIAM AGNISH .. BILLIARDS TO BAKING ..

TEA MIXOLOGY AT SAVOY HOTEL, OOTY..

(article in Contemporary Tea Time, July - Dec 2020)

By P S SUNDAR

(Response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)