JALINGA TEA ESTATE
- Its a 4th generation family owned business enterprise started by Late Manibhai G. Patel who was a visionary & entered the tea business in 1935
- Jalinga is now managed by Mr. Kirit Patel & his son Mr. Ketan Patel, both have had higher education in US in Engineering & Business
- In 2004, gardens moved 100% into organic farming under Inhana Bioscience’s technology of Rational Farming® Technology. This technology under Dr. P. Dasbiswas has sustainably transitioned Jalinga into Organic.
- Producing high quality Organic C.T.C, Orthodox & Green Teas
- Total Organic Production from Jalinga is 850 MT annually- 100% Exports
Assam Location: JALINGA T.E. – Silchar/Dwarbund - Jalinga tea estate is the only CO2 Neutral certified tea estate in the world.
AGRICULTURAL PROJECT
Bee-keeping: On its initial phase, we are working with Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), for the rearing of Honey Bees, so we can offer pure organic Honey, also since Honey Bees prefer Mustard Flowers we are also developing the same for better pollination and healthy Bees.
Turmeric Plantation: We are currently growing Turmeric in all our divisions in the Tea Estate with an expected yield of 1900KG.
Ginger Plantation: We have started the Initial phase of the Ginger Plantations on experimental basis with an expected yield of 20kgs.
Black Rice, Kala Joha, Kon Joha: Joha rice a local rice variety is being grown with the help of local farmers with an expected yield as mentioned below
- Black Rice: 69KG
- Kala Joha: 10KG
- Kon Joha: 10KG
The project is again in the initial stage of experimentation and will be bigger year on year.
Flower Projects: We have as introduced a few flowering plants and herbal plants like JASMINE, BLUE PEA FLOWER, ALLAMANDA(GOLDEN TRUMPET), HIBISCUS and GELOY
Mushroom Cultivation and Jam & Jelly project : A portion of the Bungalow have been identified suitable for the cultivation of the mushroom, and for Jam and Jelly production centre and a demonstration of the same have been done by Mr N Saikia, Co-ordinator, KVK
JALINGA SMALL TEA GROWERS PROJECT (JSTG)
We at Jalinga are firm believers in an organic & sustainable way of life and have taken it upon ourselves to spread awareness about the benefits of going organic. Hence, as one of our CSR projects we have reached out to small growers in our neighbouring region giving rise to the South of the Jalinga Tea Estate, spread over 120 hectares and 3 regions (gram panchayats) of Dwarbund, Bagbahaar and Loharbund, we have reached an agreement with 33 small growers.
WHY JALINGA
Located in the North East region of India, Assam boasts of being the largest tea growing state in the country and the single largest tea growing district in the world approx. 600million kgs annually, of which 40% are Small Tea Growers.
Jalinga is located in South Assam which consists of approx. 100 tea estates.
South Assam is blessed with being naturally free of pests, there never has been the need to use much Pesticides and hence majority of South Assam is considered naturally organic.
Since 2002 Jalinga being in Sustainable Organic growing practices, Jalinga Tea Estate officially got its organic status in 2007. Spread over 658 hectares, Jalinga is the single largest certified organic tea garden in India & the 1st and only Carbon Neutral Certified Tea Estate in the world!
Also South Assam has a lot of Bio-mass availability which is critical for composting which is mandatory for Soil Input in Organic
Since 5years being in Fairtrade system, Jalinga is one of the largest earners of FT Premium for their workers
In undertaking this project we are committed to assisting the small growers in every way possible. Thus far the initiatives we have taken include :
- In 2017 we organised a team that spent a considerable amount of time in their tea plantation and taught them about the organic and sustainable cultivation practices. They continue to make regular visits to their plantation to ensure successful organic certification for the garden
- Jalinga annually produces 3500MT of on-farm compost, we have had several workshops for the small growers at Jalinga showing Composting technique, as well assist them in compost production at site in their plantation
- A dedicated person is taken on-board to collect regular data, info on yield; crop etc. as well as ensure quality plucking for best quality tea production
- Jalinga is also the 1st tea estate in India to start a laboratory on-site this March end 2018. The laboratory will be run by an in-house technical team who will regularly perform soil & compost analysis as well as some basic tea testings.
