POSTCARDS FROM INDIA

Tealandscapediazjan12: The hill country in southern India around Coonoor is known for its tea plantations. All the hillsides are under cultivation using terraced systems. Here, pickers are picking green tea that will be bruised, cut, fermented, and crushed to become black tea. [John Diaz]

Studentteapickerjan2: (l-r) Satish Pindi and Kimberly Brown practice picking tea at the Highfield
Tea Factory in Coonoor. [McCandless]

Selfhelpjan12: The group is warmly received by a women’s self-help group in a little hilltop village
near Coonoor.  Members farm one to four hectares of their own land and sell tea to the High Field
Tea Factory. [John Diaz]

Grnhousejan12: The Ag Systems and Rural Infrastructure and Ag Development group meet with (l-r)
Mr. Nathan, civil engineer and manager, and Mr. Sachin, horticulturist. They manage 30 acres
of greenhouses for M&S Agro in Coonoor and employ 200 workers. M&S Agro sells strawberries and
cut gerber daisies to local Indian markets. The  mother plants of the berries and flowers are generated
by tissue culture in California and Holland respectively. [McCandless]

Horsebonfirejan12: After another culinary adventure with Indian food that everyone has come to
savor, Pancha Kalyane joins the others round the bonfire at the hotel for the group’s last night in India.
In the morning, they will head to Thailand for the last week of the trip. [John Diaz]

A Simple Cup of Tea
We have it with breakfast, at mid-morning, again in the mid-afternoon, sometimes with biscuits, and always with milk and sugar. In India we break for tea every few hours. Black tea with milk and sugar is the preferred way to drink it by Indians across the country; 1.3 billion people speaking 240 plus languages and practicing three of the world’s main religions love their tea.
India, the number one producer of the hand-picked, age-old agricultural product, tea, produces enough tea for all of its people, yet remains the fourth largest exporter of the drink served hot or cold across the world. The Sheiks of Iran, the Queen of England, and business men in Japan are willing to pay large sums of money to have the best tea leaves selected for their cups. A large majority of tea produced in India remains in India. Seventy-five percent is locally consumed, unlike the fellow former British colony and third largest exporter, Kenya, where 93 percent of the product is exported. According to the tea auctioneer, Mr. Coonoor, who accompanied us on our tea field trip, country preferences are different and the wide range in quality commands varying prices.
Our group visited High Field, a tea factory in Coonoor, one of the three Nilgiri hill stations in the state of Tamil Nadu, settled at 1800 meters, on hillsides with beautiful views of the valley below. It is here that we learn first-hand the varying qualities of white, green and black tea. The difference between the three depends largely upon when the leaves and buds are picked while black tea undergoes an oxidation process and the other two do not. The other variations and types of tea, like wine, depend on the climate, the monsoon rains, soil, elevation, and leaf selection.

The manufacturing process is anything but simple: careful care is taken in leave selection, drying, cutting, fermentation, oxidation and further drying. Tea, unlike coffee, boasts antioxidants and studies promote tea’s value in reducing heart disease.  

The careful hands that pick the leaves of these plants that can produce for 100 years mainly belong to women, some as young as 18, some as old as 62. Pickers average 2 rupees/ kg and 75 rupees a day (US $2). Health, education and housing are free if you live on a tea plantation. But now, more often than not, small landholders produce tea on their own 1 to 4 hectares of land, and belong to a self-help group, where they might get 10 rupees/kg for good quality tea. They provide healthcare for their own family and education for their children.

Each cup of tea that we enjoy so much with our Indian hosts throughout our time in India, from its planting to its growth to its harvest and manufacturing, eventual sale and health effect, has proven to be anything but simple.
Georgia Kayser

Animal Sciences

Madras Race Club

Samro Tuna processors

    Private Vet Clinic

Date – 12 Jan
Student –Supamit
Places visited –Samro food processors
                        Madras Race Club Equine Hospital
                        Private Vet Clinic
Today is the last day of the trip in Chennai for the animal sciences group. For this trip, we have three places to visit.
Samro Food Processors pvt ltd is a private company to operate tuna fishing and processing. The tuna fishes were caught in deep sea from Bay of Bengal. The product of tuna were processed as Sashimi. More than 90% of tuna products were exported into Japan and about 20 % of products were exported into European union and American market.
In the equine hospital (Madras Race Club), we have visited the operation theatre for horses, X-ray room, the racing performance testing facility as well as the horse stable including horse racing field and equine swimming pool.
In the private veterinary clinic, we have visited Dr. M. Vijaya Bharathi at the Pet Zone veterinary clinic, a complete vet care center. In this clinic has many service for pet including: immunization, health care, surgical and obstetrical remedies, hair coat management, pet food, pup sale and accessories. For this time, we have observed the castration of a dog.
Finally, we closed the trip in India on Marina Beach onlooking Bay of Bengal bay with impressive fun.

Activity on 12.01.08, Reported by P.Jenney , Pannee

Visit to National Floriculture Unit, Nasik
            NFU is the leading producer and export of flowers especially cut flowers. NFU also involves in R&D activities for the production of variety of flowers. Different varieties of roses like red rose, yellow rose, white rose are exported to the countries like Malaysia, Singapore, UK and US. They cultivate the flowers in an area of 7 acres and the whole area was covered by Poly house. The total cost is about 1000rs/sqm. The cost of one rose is about Rs 5 to 15. They earn a total profit of about one crore per year.

Visit to Sula Winery,Nasik
Sula winery is the second largest winery in India. It was established in 2000. They are growing grapes in Nasik and Dindori district. Farmers are operated by expert guidance. The grapes growing for wine should be small in size, acidic and high in tannin content. They are following crushing, fermentation as a two main process for wine making. They fill the wine in bottles under aseptic condition. They are the producer of dry , semi-dry, red, white, rose and sweet wine. The premium brands of this company are Sula blush zinfandel, sula chenin blank, Sula sauvignon blanc, Dindori reserve shiraz and Late harvest chenin blanc. They export their products into Uk and USA.