Association of Organic Small Tea Growers, North East India
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Coming soon - exciting news about the Aug. 31/2022 meeting with OSTGANE and Taiwan Tea rep's!
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​A Warm Welcome to Taiwan Tea Delegation 
from OSTGANE Executive Members! 

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Take a tour of our website to learn about OSTGANE 
​the Organic Small Tea Growers Association of North East (India)!​ 

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....a selection of stories & videos about Organic STG's in NE India!
January 2022
Helopeltis (tea mosquito) season is just around the corner.  It's time to start  monitoring yellow sticky traps for presence of tea mosquitoes in your tea gardens!
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Information on life cycle and formulas that can help reduce damage to leaves and bushes, click on the image below or visit https://organicsmallteagrowers.weebly.com/printed-resource-materials-in-assamese-and-english-language.html

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Small tea grower Gobin Hazarika uses a high-pressure gas powered sprayer to ensure the effective natural formulas he uses reach under the canopy of the tea bushes, and don't just coat the surface of the leaves!
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August 31, 2021
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ASSAM SMALL TEA GROWERS CHOOSE
​VEDIC METHOD TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

https://newsmove.in/assam-small-tea-growers-choose-vedic-method-to-fight-climate-change/
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Assam tea is globally known for its unique strong color, flavor and taste of tea. The state produces more than half of India’s total tea production, thus earning the country a considerable amount of revenue from its export. Assam alone contributes 17 percent to global tea production.   But things started changing when research indicated that tea yields in Assam are expected to decline by up to 40 percent by 2050. And this has directly to do with climate change in the region.   Keeping this in mind many young small tea growers chooses Vedic methods to grow their greens.

​By Chandrani Sinha

​35 years old Abhijit Das is a small tea grower in Assam. He is one of the few organic tea growers in Assam but what makes his garden different from the other garden is that – it uses ancient Vedic methods to grow tea.

In 2008 Abhijit in his 7 hectare sets his tea garden which is situated in the Kathaldanga village of Pabhoi, in Biswanath Chariali of Assam named as Mrittika Natural farm.

“Mrittika means soil in Sanskrit and so to improve its quality we adopted Vedic methods. it also helps in fighting climate change effects and pest removal from leaves.  Eg we use in place of chemical fertilizer we use Jeevamruth” says Abhijit

Jeevamrutha is a natural liquid fertilizer. It is made by mixing water, manure, and urine from cows with some mud from the same area as the manure will be applied later. Food is then added to speed the growth of microbes sometimes jaggery or gram flour too can be used in it.


Mrittika now produces three different varieties of tea which include Green hand-rolled, Black or orthodox hand-rolled, and White Peony tea.
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Like Abhijit, there is a number of young planters and farmers who are using Vedic methods to harvest teas.
Other methods include Panchagavya which is an organic product that helps in promoting growth and providing immunity in the plant system.

Panchagavya consists of nine products viz. cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd, jaggery, ghee, banana, Tender coconut, and water. When suitably mixed and used, these have miraculous effects.
Sasyagavya, Dhanyagavya etc. All these are mentioned in ancient Vedic manuscripts.

Why sudden shift from organic to Vedic?  
To read the full story, click on this link!  
https://newsmove.in/assam-small-tea-growers-choose-vedic-method-to-fight-climate-change/
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March 31, 2021

A number of OSTGANE members attended a five day intensive program
on tea manufacturing hosted by Tea Research Association, Jorhat
that was held March 15th to 19th, 2021   
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During the first three days, growers received training on a range of topics, including:

Plucking
Insects & Disease
Manufacturing Processes
​Harvest & Transportation
​Withering

Processing (CTC & Orthodox)
Oxidation / Fermentation
Drying
Grading & Sorting
​Tea Tasting
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The remaining two days focused on practical demonstration of proper processing                     CTC tea                                                Green tea                                    Orthodox tea

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 For more information about this session, contact Bijit Basumatary
     Mobile number:   94351 28562     
     Email address:  bijitba@yahoo.in

       ____________________________________________________________________


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Gobin Hazarika, Tenzing Bodosa and Shyam Saikia are featured in Eco-India's film about
the progress and success of small-scale, independent organic tea growers in north east India.
To view the video, click here!
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December 13, 2020
GOOD NEWS FOR NE INDIA'S SMALL-SCALE INDEPENDENT TEA SECTOR!
Click here to read the full story!  
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March 2020
OSTGANE hosted a workshop on TEA MARKETING on Monday, March 16, 2020, featuring a few marketing promoters ​from Delhi and Gwalior.

Location:  Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, near Games Village, Lalmati, Guwahati, Assam 
For additional information, please contact Bijit Basumatary, past General Secretary, 
mobile no. 9435128562             email:  bijitba@yahoo.in​

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Thanks to filmmakers Tom and Amy Skelton from the UK for highlighting the Canadian NGO
Fertile Ground's role in development of the organic tea movement in northeast India.

https://vimeo.com/279560159
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March 8, 2018
Highlights from OSTGANE's 2018 annual meeting
Location:  Adarsh Seuj Prakalpa, Digboi, Assam
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​​The 2018 program included:
  • OSTGANE Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers
  • Interactive session on natural pest and disease control – proper techniques and timing for monitoring, effective use of formulas and preparation, etc.
  • Sampling of teas from individual growers
  • Presentation on prospects for intercropping organic tea and sericulture by Kartik Neog, Central Eri and Muga Research and Training Institute
  • Hands-on training in converting dried leaves to top quality compost and mulch for your tea garden
  • Discussion about shipping samples, explanation of procedure to follow when exporting teas to buyers outside of India
Thanks to Indian Oil Corporation (AOD), Digboi Rotary Club, Fertile Ground NGO (Canada)
for their generous contributions to the organizing and hosting of the 2018 event!

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March 10, 2017
In 2017, a meeting of OSTGANE members and interested growers
took place at Adarsh Seuj Prakalpa, Digboi on Sat. March 4th and Sunday, March 5th.
Thanks go to Indian Oil Corporation (AOD), Digboi Rotary Club, Fertile Ground NGO (Canada),
Assam Foundation of North America (AFNA) and Tea Board of India
for their support and assistance in making this event possible!


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The Organic Small Tea Growers of Tripura hosted a successful meeting
of OSTGANE on February 1 and 2, 2017 at Panchamnagar Village​

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February 2016
Sweet memories of the first OSTGANE EVENT OF 2016 held FEB. 10th -13th
at Dimakuchi Village, Udalguri District
Sincere thanks to members of the All Bodoland Small Tea Growers Association and to the OSTGANE Executive Members for making this meeting a great success!  Over 50 participants took part in sessions on soil management, tea processing and tea tasting, burner and dryer technology and leadership skills.  

​Thanks also go to Kel Kelly 
 (The Small Tea Co-operative, Canada), Laurie Klassen (Level Ground Trading, Canada) and Fertile Ground (www.fertile-ground.org) for their participation and support.
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      Good people, great resource people, wonderful food and a comfortable venue - great work everyone!
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January 2015
SLIDE SHOW OF IMAGES TAKEN AT A HANDS-ON TRAINING SESSION IN TRIPURA, FACILITATED BY MEMBERS OF ORGANIC SMALL TEA GROWERS ASSOCIATION NORTHEAST (INDIA), JANUARY 2015​
Bijit Basumatary, Tenzing Bodosa and Jitan Saharia shared their knowledge of organic tea cultivation and production with members of the Debbarma community in Tripura - and with some help from Kel Kelly of the small tea cooperative in Canada, explained how to produce compost and compost "tea" - a liquid formula that helps improve soil fertility and control pests.
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Update on the Meeting of the Association held Wednesday, June 4, 2014
at Chenehi Tea Garden, Village Dhuwapathar, Dist. Dibrugarh, Assam


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Issues discussed included the need for:
  • Training Workshops on Organic Tea Cultivation to be presented to STG's in all north east states.  Sessions are being planned for Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Nagaland.  
  • Organic Awareness Camps to create awareness and provide guidance - primarily to the upcoming generation and growers.  The Association will form a group comprised of members from all North Eastern states and from different backgrounds including farmers, students, teachers and volunteers
  • Support from the Gov't of India to establish a demonstration and training centre and at least 1 merchandise store in each NE state - as well as to assist growers requiring organic certification for their teas..
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Co-Chair, Dhiren Phukan, discusses goals of OSTGANE with members of the press

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Learn about becoming
a member of the Association......
 Find out about Special Events 
and Programs........
Useful Videos and 
Resource Materials........
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