Report Feasibility study organic bitter tea Cao Bang - Helvetas

Feasibility Study Organic Bitter Tea in Cao Bang: 2007
Table 1. Assessment of improvements to be made to comply with organic standards in comparison with the current situation
Applicable Organic Standard Current Situation Improvement to be made
1. Synthetic fertilizers are prohibited. NPK is being used by farmers who planted bitter
tea in their fields as well as in the nursery
2. Chemical plant protection chemicals are
prohibited.
Some farmers use insecticides (Trebon, Bassa) to
control pests in the bitter tea plantations.
Fungicides are regularly applied to control
diseases in the nursery. One farmer was observed
to have used a herbicide in his bitter tea
plantation.
3. Synthetic hormone is prohibited. A rooting hormone is used in the nursery. It
could not be established whether this hormone is
of a synthetic origin.
4. Farmer must maintain records of sources of
all farm inputs as well as of harvested
products. Records include sales records.
Annual production plans are also required..
5. Parallel production is not allowed: crops in
organic fields must be different from crops in
conventional fields.
6. If prohibited substances are used on adjacent
fields, the organic field must have a buffer
area to prevent chemical contamination.
At present, farmers do not keep any records.
However, the BTC has a quite detailed system
for keeping records of farmers it is supporting
with establishing new plantations.
Most farmers grow bitter tea as monoculture,
with a limited number of plots.
Many bitter tea plantations border fields with
maize, vegetables or rice. Especially in rice and
vegetables chemical fertilisers and pesticides are
being used.
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Soil fertility management should include a
variety of materials for example compost, aged
animal manure, green manure and possibly
additional mineral inputs from natural sources.
Compost may be difficult to apply on sloping
land but here green manures will be very
effective, also to control erosion
Organic pest and disease management should be
based on growing a healthy crop and the
application of a variety of preventive measures.
In emergency situation, BT could be used against
caterpillars.
Seedling production without use of synthetic
growth hormone should be studied.
Once farmers start organic conversion, they
should start to keep records. BTC's current
system of record keeping could provide good
basis for and ICS.
Farmers should not be allowed to convert only
part of their bitter tea. If they convert, they
should convert all their plots with bitter tea.
Farmers should create buffer zones and plant
border crops where required.