With the essence of ‘Earn while learning’, this college in Biswanath district of Assam is a tea estate spread over 40 acres of land in a college where students work for wages in their leisure time and meet their education expenses . A tea garden that enables students to prepare themselves self-reliant (self-reliant) and learn the basics to become the future tea entrepreneur of the state.
“We had huge forest land lying unused in our college campus. In 2014, we started tea garden in 23.38 acres of land. Interested college students were involved in the plantation and maintenance of the garden. We bring in visiting faculties to teach one batch of students who then go on to train the next batch. In 2019 we added another 13.36 acres to the plantation area. We buy clones and the rest is done by the students,” says Dr Ajit Hazarika, principal of Tyaagbir Hem Barua College.
Set in the rural background on the northern bank of the mighty Brahmaputra, the tea garden in the college was initially touted as a joint effort by all the teaching and non-teaching staff of the college. One of the main objectives of this initiative was to impart skill development education to the students from the economically weaker sections and help them prepare for the future along with academic qualifications.
“We sell green tea leaves to nearby factories and make a profit of around two lakhs a year. We pay Rs 10 per kg for the green leaves cut by the students. About 200 students engage themselves in garden work which includes harvesting, pruning and maintenance and production in the garden. Though we don’t have a proper syllabus for Tea Science course, we have provided UGC certified as getting an affiliated course from Gauhati University which involves a lengthy official process” says Dr. Hazarika
It is on June 1, the college and its students officially started producing and trading organic green tea. The college has trained a group of students in green production as the expertise involved.
The college also encourages students to set up tea gardens in their homes when they have vacant land. The college provides initial support to the student apart from being fully prepared and equipped for such challenges.
“Green tea requires one bud and one leaf as opposed to one bud and two leaves in the case of CTC tea. Apart from this, the tea is dried naturally in the shade and dried on the pan. The tea is then swirled by hand to obtain the final product. All this is done by our students in their spare time. We pay them a stipend of Rs 40 per hour. We sell these teas in local marked and they cost Rs 225 for a packet of 100 grams and Rs 130 for a packet of 50 grams,” says the principal of the college
Established in 1963 after the Chinese invasion, the Heritage College has 2200 students in the Faculties of Arts and Sciences.
“Now we are encouraging students to set up tea gardens in their homes when they have vacant land. The college will provide initial support to the student apart from being fully prepared and equipped for such challenges. Apart from tea garden, we have also started cultivation of banana, chilli and lemon on four bighas of land. This is also looked after by the college students,” says Mrinmoy Kumar Nath, junior assistant, Tyagbir Hem Barua College, which looks after the affairs of the college’s tea garden.
Courses in Tea Management are offered at Kariduwar and Tingkhong College, Assam and Assam Science and Diploma courses are offered. technology university.
Assam Agricultural University has the distinction of being the first institution in the world to have a Department of Tea Husbandry and Agriculture. technology which provides formal education on tea.
Assam Agricultural University has the unique distinction of being the first institution in the world to have a Department of Tea Husbandry and Technology imparting formal education on tea. This department was established in 1968 with the joint cooperation of the Tea Board of the Government of Assam. India and various tea growers, to offer an entirely new course of study, specialized multidisciplinary courses. Thus since 1968, Assam Agricultural University has opened a new chapter by combining formal university education with the need for India’s major agro-based tea industry, which continues to play an important role in the national economy.
From the late 80s of the last century, the department introduced and popularized the concept of small-scale tea cultivation in Assam. Presently there are about 120,000 small tea growers in the state. The Assam Agricultural University is credited with popularizing tea as a cultivar crop and for development in the small tea sector in Assam in particular and the entire North Eastern region in general.
The total area under tea cultivation in Assam accounts for more than half of the country’s total area under tea. Assam alone produces more than half of India’s tea production. The estimated annual average production of tea in Assam is around 630-700 million kg.
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