Hindustan Unilever Limited organizes ‘Tea Next 2.0’ capacity-building event in Golaghat

A CORRESPONDENT

GOLAGHAT: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), through its Tea Next initiative, successfully organized Tea Next 2.0, a focused capacity-building event for Bought Leaf Factory (BLF) representatives and Small Tea Growers (STGs), at Golaghat on Thursday. The event brought together around 256 small tea growers and BLF management representatives from across the region. Tea Next 2.0 aimed to strengthen sustainability, productivity, and regulatory compliance across smallholder tea farms—an increasingly critical segment of India’s tea value chain. The Tea Next programme focuses on three core areas. The first is the improvement of green leaf quality, where participants received practical training and guidance on pruning cycles, plucking standards, and the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to enhance the consistency and quality of green leaf production. The second is the mitigation of Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) challenges. Expert-led sessions covered the Plant Protection Code, compliance with FSSAI MRLs and guidelines, and adherence to Pre-Harvest Intervals (PHIs). Live demonstrations of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices were conducted, with strong emphasis on non-chemical pest and disease control methods. The third area focuses on regenerative agriculture practices, highlighting soil health management and ways to strengthen the climate resilience of tea bushes, supporting long-term farm sustainability. The event was organized in collaboration with the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) and the Trustea Sustainable Tea Foundation, with Trustea actively supporting the design and delivery of technical training and on-ground activities.

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