DARJEELING TEA RESEARCH

AND
DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

Department of Commerce
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Govt. of India

Kurseong, Darjeeling
West Bengal India

H.O. 14 B.T.M. Sarani, Kolkata - 700 001

Darjeeling Tea Research and Development Centre was established in

1977 at Kurseong with an experimental farm of 21.6 hectares.

The Centre which is a recognized R & D Institute of the DST, Govt. of India,
besides catering to the advisory requirement of Darjeeling tea gardens has
developed technical know-how on various aspects of tea cultivation. The four
main Divisions of research are Farm Management (Botany & Agronomy), Soil
Science, Bio-chemistry and Plant Protection . The Centre has inter alia a
Library, Miniature Manufacturing Unit, a green house and an Agro-
meteorological Observatory.
Important Findings :

λ The performance of eight popular clones out of thirty Darjeeling

clones has been evaluated among which B15 has been found to
be superior than others.

λ Minimum tillage replanting methodology developed for

inorganic cultivation of tea.

λ Experiment with binodal cuttings have shown their superiority

in terms of better growth over single nodal cuttings.

λ Standardised the frequency of plucking in respect of yield and

quality.

λ A soil-fertility status viz., NPK map of Darjeeling tea growing

soils published.

λ A soil Zinc status map of Darjeeling Tea Estates published.

λ The positive effect of foliar spray of Zinc on yield has been

established.

λ Efficacy of pure salt of Zinc, Magnesium and Boron

established in the increase of yield as compared to the commercial
products.

λ Effect of six different sources of sulphur fertilizer has been examined

and their efficacy in rectifying the deficiency of this
mineral has also been established.
λ X-ray diffraction studies of the soils of quality and non-quality
sections of Darjeeling tea gardens have been made. The genesis of
the soils of this area has also been outlined on the basis of detailed
morphological, physico-chemical and mineralogical analysis.

λ Bioefficacy of different neem products in controlling certain pests of

tea has been tested.

λ Darjeeling black tea evaluated as per ISO/PFA specification.

λ Blending compatibility of various clones released for Darjeeling hills

established.

λ β-D-glucosidase, a flavour releasing enzyme extracted and

characterized .

Services offered :

1. Soil, Plant, Manures/Fertilisers, water and biochemical parameters

tested and recommendations offered.

2. Visiting gardens on specific problem and request.

Thrust Areas of Research :

1. Correlating the organoleptic evaluation with Biochemical/VFC

analysis.

2. Impact of various organic and inorganic inputs on the yield and

quality of Darjeeling Tea.

3. Experiments on low temperature drying.

4. Experiments to reduce winter dormancy.

5. Evolving good quality low cost concentrated organic manures.

6. Low cost package for organic cultivation.

7. Finding suitable local botanical herbs with high pesticidal and

nutritive properties.

8. Pesticide Residue and heavy metal analysis.

Collaborative Research :

1. Collaboration with Karlu Ruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, C-

DAC, Kolkata and Jadavpur University, Kolkata for development of
electric nose.

2. Collaboration with IIT, Kharagpur on physico-chemical properties of

soil, environment and production of teas.

3. Collaboration with Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya on soil

microbiological aspects of organic and inorganic cultivation of tea.

4. The Centre is also recognized by Kalyani University and North

Bengal University for carrying out doctoral research.

Centre of Excellence :

A multi-crore rupees plan has been sanctioned for upgrading the present
infrastructure of this Centre into a unique 'Centre of Excellence” which would
be the first of its kind for Tea Research in the Country.
 A view of an experimental plot.

List of Publications

1. Ghosh Hajra N., Kabir S. E. and Bisen, J. S., Botanical pest control – An
alternative to minimize Residue toxicity in Darjeeling Tea, Published in
proceedings of conference on “Plant Protection & Human Health” held at
Darjeeling on March 2, 1994. Organised by Darjeeling Planters Association.

2. Bisen, J. S. and Ghosh Hajra, N., Bioefficacy of neem products in

controlling certain pests of Tea (Camellia sinensis). Pestology Vol XIX, No.
11:28-32 (1995).

3. Saha, R., Mondal, D. Bisen, J. S., Tea Soils of Darjeeling. Tea Board,
India, Scientific Monograph Series No. 1, (1995).

4. Saha, R. and Bisen, J. S., Phosphate and Potash fertilizers in the

optimization of yield and quality of Darjeeling black Teas. Technical Bulletin
No. 7/1995, Tea Board, Darjeeling Tea Research Centre, Kurseong,
Darjeeling, W.B., India – 734 203.

5. Saha, R. and Bisen, J.S., Sulphur in Darjeeling soils – its deficiencies

and remedies. Technical Bulletin No. 8/1996. Tea Board, Darjeeling Tea
Research Centre, Kurseong – 734203, Darjeeling, India.

6. Saha, R., Mondal, D. and Bisen, J.S., Potassium ion potential and the
quantity-intensity relationship as affected by organic matter and
exchangeable Aluminium ions in acidic Tea soils of Darjeeling, W.B., J. of
Hill Res. 9(2):219-232(1996).

7. Bisen, J.S. and Ghosh Hajra, N., Testing of SELFIN (Bacillus

thuringiensis Kurustaki serotype 3a, 3b) against Flush worm (Cydia
leucostoma) in young tea of Darjeeling. Pestology Vol. XXI, No. 3, March,
1997.

8. Bisen, J. S. and Kumar R., Studies on the antifeedant properties of some

plant extracts against bunch caterpillar (Andraca bipunctata) on tea
(Camellia sinensis L.). Pestology Vol. XXI, No. 10, October, 1997.

9. Bisen, J. S. and Ghosh Hajra, N., Persistence and degradation of some

insecticides in Darjeeling Tea. Journal of Plantation Crops 28(2):123-131,
August, 2000.

10. Bisen, J. S. and Ghosh Hajra, N., Bioefficacy of some neem formulations
and garlic extract against sucking pests of tea. Pestology Vol. XXV No. 8,
August, 2001.
11. Bisen, J. S. and Ghosh Hajra, N., Efficacy of some organic fungicides
against Blister Blight disease of tea in Darjeeling hills. Pestology Vol. XXVI
No.8, August, 2002.

12. Bisen, J. S., Saha, R. and Bera, B., Use of neem products and garlic
extract in controlling certain pests of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) with special
reference to organic tea in Darjeeling. Accepted in world Neem Conference
will be held at Coimbatore from 21st to 24th November, 2007.

13. Saha R., Soil Fertility Status Map of Tea Growing Areas of Darjeeling
Hills. Pub. By Tea Board of Inda, 2005.

14. Saha R., Soil Zinc Status Map of Tea Estates of Darjeeling Hills. Pub by
Tea Board of India, 2005

15. Technical Bulletin No. 1 : Evaluation of Herbicides for weed control in

Darjeeling tea. Published by Tea Board of India, 1989, PP1-6

16. Technical Bulletin No. 2 : Effect f foliar applications of Zinc in tea under
the agroclimatic condition of Darjeeling . Published by Tea Board of India
1989, PP 1-3.

17. Technical Bulletin No. 3 : Darjeeling tea in perspective of ISO

specifications. Published by Tea Board of India. 1989, PP 1-6.

18. Technical Bulletin No. 4 : Performance of minimum tillage replantation

under Darjeeling conditions. Published by Tea Board of India 1989. PP 1-6.

19. Technical Bulletin No. 5 : Performance of certain clones under agro-

ecological conditions of Darjeeling. Published by Tea Board, India 1991. PP
1-6

20. Technical Bulletin No. 6 : Training of young tea in Darjeeling, Published

by Tea Board of India 1991, PP 1-5

21. Kabir S. E., Ghosh Hajra N. and Kumar R., 1996. Effect of plucking
intervals on yield and quality of Darjeeling Tea; J Plantation crops 24 (Suppl)
: 758-762.

22. Ghosh Hajra N. and Kumar R., 1999. Seasonal variation in

photosynthesis and productivity of young tea; Expl Agric 35 : 71-85

23. Ghosh Hajra, N. and Kumar R 2002. Diurnal and seasonal variations in
gas exchange property of tea leaves; J Plant Biol 29 : 169-173

24. Ghosh Hajra N. and Kumar R. 2002 Responses of young tea clones to
subtropical climate : Effects on photosynthetic and Biochemical
characteristics; J Plant Biol 29 : 257-264.

25. Ghosh Hajra N and Kumar R 2003. Gas exchange characteristics of tea
(Camellia sinensis) in ksub tropics; Indian J Plant Physiol. (Special Issue) :
749-754.

26. Ghosh Hajra N. and Kumar R, 2004 Influence of environmental variables

on gas exchange and productivity of tea; Proceedings of the international
conference on O-CHA (tea) Culture and Science NOV, 4-6, Shizuoka, Japan,
PP 181-184
27. Kumar, N., Chaudhury, T.C and Ghosh Hajra, N. 1992. Seasonal and
grade variations in ISO Specifications for black tea – A Darjeeling
perspective. Journal of Plantation Crops 20 : 323-330.

28. Kumar, N., Rai, R., Ghosh Hajra, N. and Chaudhury, T. C. 1993. Dry
matter content of certain tea clones under agroclimatic conditions of
Darjeeling. Journal of Plantation Crops 21 : 32-37.

29. Kumar, N., Rai, R., Ghosh Hajra, N. and Chaudhury, T. C. 1993.
Improvement in quality of Darjeeling teas through blending during
manufacture. Journal of Plantation Crops 21 : 385-389.

30. Kumar, N., Rai, R., Ghosh Hajra, N. and Chaudhury, T. C. 1996. Effect of
dry matter content on quality of Darjeeling teas. Journal of Plantation Crops
24 : 763-767.

31. Kumar, N., Rai, R. and Ghosh Hajra, N. 2002. Plucking cycle in relation
to quality of Darjeeling teas. Plantation Research and Development in the
Millennium : 436 – 441.

32. Kumar, N., Rai, R. and Ghosh Hajra, N. 2002. Extraction, isolation and
characterization of b-D-glucosidase in Darjeeling teas. Proceedings of the
15th Plantation Crops Symposium Placrosym XV : 701-704.

Published by Project Director, DTRDC on behalf of Tea Board, Govt. of India, WB