Shillong, Sep 5: Biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak in collaboration with community business initiative PIRBI organised a one-day training on handmade Green Tea and Orthodox Tea at Sivoram Terang village in Diring River Basin of Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape.
Eight Karbi women from Diring River Basin attended the training aimed at turning locally grown tea leaves into higher-value household-level products.
Resource person Rani Singnarpi from Sivoram Terang demonstrated leaf selection, plucking, boiling, hand-rolling and sun drying for Green Tea and Orthodox Tea at her tea farm.
Participant Jirhun Killingpi said farmers now sell fresh leaves at Rs 20-30 per kg to companies through agents and hoped value addition would fetch better prices through PIRBI. Junaki Teronpi of Thenkur Terang said the training helped understand how processing impacts quality and value.
Aaranyak’s Moromi Nath said PIRBI will procure the tea as per quality based on leaf selection, rolling and drying, while Larbeen Teronpi introduced PIRBI’s community food processing centres in Diring and Kohora River Basins for value addition of turmeric, ginger, tapioca and other local produce.
The initiative seeks to create low-investment home-based livelihood for rural women while preserving traditional tea-making. The programme under Aaranyak’s Natural Resource Management Programme is supported by IUCN-KfW, US Fish and Wildlife Service and Disney Conservation Fund.
