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Building biodiversity into monoculture
Nuxalbari Tea Estate
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Travelling around the tea world we have seen tea growing in many different systems. In countries where tea was originally grown and enjoyed—like in China, for example-- it is cultivated on smaller parcels of land, often adjacent to the homes of people who will nurture, pluck and eventually process it. Tea is also inter-woven into the culture, part of life rather than being a tradeable commodity. In this small scale tea farming, tea is just one crop, often grown alongside food crops.
However, in places like India, where tea is a relatively recent addition, large parcels of land devoted only to tea is the prevailing model. During Colonial times the British took over vast swathes of land to grow tea in India, Sri Lanka and East Africa for an insatiable demand for tea at home and in Europe. In these countries tea growing was often imposed quickly, abruptly changing the land use to growing just one crop (monoculture) without any thought of how those working and living nearby would feed themselves, or how this would impact the land and creatures living there. Mass production to supply the foreign demand was (and still is in many areas) the primary aim.
Tea production as a cash crop disregards biodiversity. Volume and price have always been king with very few seeking to understand the effects of pure commerce on the environment. As sustainability has become the buzzword of our times, many of us feel uncomfortable acknowledging that we are also responsible for this model. We find it easier to criticise large tea estates than to try and understand what we can do to bring positive change. Should we only buy tea from small growers? But what would happen to tea estates like Nuxalbari set up in 1884 and who provide livelihoods to over 1000 workers every single day?.
At Comins we have always believed in partnering with tea people we trust and respect - we don't use garden size as an indicator - so when our customers ask us 'How can larger gardens possibly change to become more biodiverse and sustainable?' we always talk about Nuxalbari.
Why not make a cup of tea while we share why ....
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What? BIODIVERSITY
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You simply cannot have a healthy sustainable farm without biodiversity
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How? THE FOOD FOREST
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Walking in the stunning garden adjacent to her bungalow, Sonia explained how Nuxalbari is working to become food self-sufficient. 'In the last few years we have been experimenting. We produce our own food organically—staples and vegetables.. We try and teach others how to do it. We are also creating a food forest’. You couldn’t walk more than a few feet without encountering lychees, coconuts, lemons, chilli; jackfruit….to name a few. The rich flora attract a huge range of insec–s - a key part of the food chai‘. 'North Bengal is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world because here at Nuxalbari', Sonia shared‘, 'we are at 800ft and 120km away is Kanchenjunga at 26,000 ft - compressed between that is a huge variety of flora and fa’na'. During lockdown the team even grew their own organic ri–e‘- 'over 90kg’ as well as using the various plants to make different preparations for pests etc. It is an approach we also saw across the garden; Dal [which we have enjoyed in our time here and is so delicious] growing alongside tea bushes and a mango tree tempting workers in the factory with its fruit. The idea is that people can forage as they go about their day - working the land to bring in the tea and also being replenished by its plentiful bounty - an approach that should bring huge social benefits, a key part of a sustainability here
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How? REWILDING & HABITAT CREATION
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A huge array of ferns and forest plants greeted us in the nursery giving a hint at the extent of the rewilding project at Nuxalbari. Fruit trees framed the organic tea sections we visit–d - part of a 1km long strip of new planting stretching from the garden to the elephant watering hole. Each area is carefully planned; the starting point is understanding the biosphere; plants must then be chosen that suit the terrain and of course patience is needed - these are time and money hungry endeavours which take several seasons to complete.
Is it working? Well if the uplift in the number of species on the garden is anything to go by then yes it is. An ambitious project to construct more natural pools is already in its first stage, attracting kingfishers and cormorants even before the grasses are planted. Flying squirrels, peacocks, a huge amount of bird species and the wild Indian Hare have all returned in recent months along with the leopards - the presence of the apex predator tells you all you need to know about the biodiversity here.
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What? HEALTHY SOILS
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How? SOIL REGENERATION
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Soil is the life of the tea plant : sustain the soil, sustain the plant
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The soils at Nuxalbari and across the Dooars are rocky - they have a little more topsoil than those you would see in Darjeeling but are most certainly not the rich deep soils of Assam. As we pluck young leaf from tea bushes the sugars stored in the growing leaves and shoots are also taken. In conventional farming these are replaced with fertilisers [urea, potash, phosphates and elemental sulphur] - in organic farming the soil and in turn the plants are replenished with compost. A trip to the nursery at Nuxalbari will soon give you an entry level education in composting - large piles of pruning litter from the garden are shredded and layered with nitrogenous material, water and cow dung and decomposed in a controlled method.
Across the garden other initiatives are in place; when sections are cleared old trees are left in place maintaining soil biology and the structure of the soil. Green cover crops are swiftly grown on any bare land to replenish soil before planting. And then there is the grass; everywhere you look across the young tea areas at Nuxalbari there is grass holding the soil together, preventing carbon loss & the growth of weeds. Grass between the tea bushes is not a common site on tea gardens of this size - some have expressed concern that the grass will somehow compete with the tea plants for nutrition but this has not been shown to be true. In addition Vetiver grass - a grass with incredible capacity for carbon sequestering and an extensive root system - line the ditches. In some sections we even saw Doobh grass - considered holy among Hindus ; the presence of this grass is an indication of the good health of the soil.
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What? RESILIENT TEA PLANTS
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How? GROW FROM SEED
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'How young tea is raised will hugely affect how the tea will continue to grow.
If you have good stock and raise your nursery properly then by the time you plant the tea there should be little need to intervene too intensively in its care. Well nourished, healthy tea bushes are at the centre of sustainable tea farming'.
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Tea plants are raised from seed at Nuxalbari - an approach that ensures greater genetic diversity, breeds hardier, more drought and pest-tolerant plants with longer tap roots - a critical attribute in these drier times. Woodiness comes more quickly to the stems of seed plants making them more hardy once they are planted out in the field. It takes a lot of human and earth energy to raise a productive tea plant - this approach ensures that this is done in a sustainable way.
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What? AN EMPOWERED COMMUNITY
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How? TURNING STRENGTHS INTO ECONOMIC STABILITY
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The leaf from Nuxalbari makes excellent CTC tea - and there is a huge market for quality CTC in India itself. Over the course of the last two years Sonia has worked with mentors and brokers to make changes [especially investing in new machinery]which have made a huge difference to the quality of the CTC here. As a result it is now much sought after & fetching much higher prices. This economic success and focus has resulted in Nuxalbari being the only garden in the Dooars to pay the ELP - extra leaf price - early to employees this year.
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How? INVESTING IN EDUCATION
Hathi Sathi Foundation
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Nuxalbari provides safe passage for Elephants passing between the two forests that border the tea gardens at Nuxalbari. The Hathi Sathi, or Elephant Friend programme, launched in 2018 teaches the children living on the tea estate through their Nature Club and adults, through regular presentations and workshops about the natural environment and the value of learning to live safely with elephants and other wildlife. Workshops include bird, butterfly tree and plant identification and more recently, safe practices around leopards living in the garden. Work has spread to other tea gardens, sharing knowledge of how the elephant corridors, early warning systems and acceptance of the presence of this amazing creature are a positive and not something to be feared and resisted
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