Sustainable Tea Initiatives with the Adoption of Inhana Rational Farming Technology to Address the Principles of Regenerative Farming for Crop Sustainability and Reduction of Pesticide Usage

Abstract

The tea sector faces daunting economic challenges stemming from reduced yields due to climate impacts, increased pest and pesticide use, inferior quality and low tea prices, rising production costs and shifts in worker availability. Adoption of sustainable cultivation practices addressing the principles of regenerative farming can build resilience in tea production and also lessen the negative impact on the environment. A sustainable initiative was taken by Goodricke Group Limited in collaboration with Inhana Organic Research Foundation (IORF) towards restoration of soil quality, crop sustainability and reduction of pesticide usage. To meet the set targets Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) was the adopted as the crop technology, which focused on soil and plant health management. The study encompassed two time periods, i.e., the pre-COVID era (2013–2019) and post-COVID era (2020–2022), during which crop performance, pesticide usage and soil quality development were documented. The findings clearly showed the impact of sustainable initiative in terms of better crop performance, lowering of pesticide use and improvement of soil health (where ever soil management was continued). This study clearly indicated that an investment in the sustainability account not only ensures crop sustenance and improvement in the long run and enable a reduction in the requirement for agrochemicals, of higher importance is the regeneration of soil health and improvement of resilience towards climate impact, which is critical for both present and future sustenance of the plantation as well as better economic security.