Pressure from international buyers and a need to preserve the soil is driving the switch.
Darjeeling tea is going organic. Planters switching over claim that organic production helps maintain soil fertility, even if it means lower production. Others say the planters are under pressure from buyers in developed countries.
Darjeeling tea is famed for its lightness and aroma and is in demand across the globe. Around 80% of the nearly 9,000 tonnes of tea produced annually in Darjeeling, West Bengal and surrounding areas in the Himalayas is exported to Germany, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and other developed countries…
