Women agripreneurs set for tea party

To mark International Women’s Day (IWD) on Sunday, the focal point of which was to create awareness on women’s rights and empowerment, here in the Nilgiris, there is an inspiring account of how tea is made the foundation for economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs, especially, rural women.

It is pertinent to note that around 200 women smallholder farmers (SHFs), associated with two bought leaf factories, Havukal and Vigneshwar Tea in Nilgiris are being steadily empowered through trainings on implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs).

This is made possible by Trustea India's sustainable tea programme.

Giving an account on this venture, Ashish Gupta, Procurement DirectorSouth Asia, Unilever, said that the Trustea programme, a voluntary certification, backed by Unilever, is an India specific sustainability code for the tea industry with a multi-stakeholder model. Introduced in 2013, the Trustea programme has ensured that over 14,000 SHFs including about 3,500 women SHFs in South India, have more access to formal training opportunities on sustainable farm practices focused on environment, safety and livelihoods.

This programme comes at an opportune time, when an increasing number of women-owned businesses are slated to contribute to the country's economy, with rural 'agripreneurs” identified as a distinct segment, working as a critical catalyst to modernize agriculture and the rural ecosystem, he noted.

The Trustea’s trainings through farm demonstrations have covered a wide range of topics including usage of water, appropriate use of fertilizers for effective nutrient management, soil testing, safe handling of agrochemicals, use of PPE (personal protective equipment) while applying fertilizers and integrated pest management. Farmers are also trained to maintain a “farm diary”, which helps them keep a complete field record of the activities and cost to track and improve efficiency of their operation, he explained.

Sustainable agricultural practices can also help in addressing climate change, Gupta said and added that Trustea addresses a variety of issues ranging from working conditions to adverse effects of climate change.

Beeki Ammal a woman SHF, who owns three acres of tea plantations spread across four locations in TManihatty near here said that after Trustea’s intervention, she was able to reduce fertilizer application by almost thirty per cent. Similarly, the quantity of herbicide reduced to 450 ml/acre from 1.0 litre earlier. More informed now about water and soil conservation she also started maintaining staggered stenches to prevent loss of moisture and soil erosion.

“Prior to this programme, I used to burn waste plant materials in the field. However, post the training, I retain the pruning litters of my field which is chopped and spread on the soil to improve soil fertility after the pruning operation. ‘Trustea’ has helped me achieve consistency in price, quality and my yield, which fetches me an average price of `15/kg of green tea leaf,” she noted.