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The Cachar Advisory Branch was established in 1955 at Silcuri which is located on Hailakandi Road, 12 km away from Silchar town in the Cachar district of Assam. The branch has a meteorological station, a soil testing laboratory and a clonal plot for maintaining planting material. ActivitiesThe branch provides advisory service to the tea estates of of Happy Valley, North Cachar, Chutlabheel, Hailakandi, Longai, Karimganj and Tripura. It also undertake training and demonstration programme at estates for technology adoption at grass root levels and provides soil testing service. Transfer of technology is also carried out regularly through publication of quarterly and special advisory bulletins. Tea areas of Barak Valley:Barak Valley is situated between 24°8' and 25°8' N
latitude and 92°15' and 93°15' E longitude. It occupies an area of 2689 square
mile (about 6941 km2) and has three distr The soils in most of the teelas are coarse, sandy loam in texture and most plateau and flat areas are silty clay loam. The 'bheel' soil (peat soil) classified as mineral soil is with high proportion of organic matter. The mineral fraction mainly constitutes fine particles of silt and clay. The soils are acidic (about 33% with pH < 4.5 and 65% between pH 4.5 and 5.5), with a large percentage showing low organic matter and potash. Wide variability in yield is observed while comparing hot (south facing) and cold (north facing) slopes on teelas. Yield of cold slopes is generally higher, however under good stand of shade with proper drainage crop in the hot slope can also be improved. Services offered:In a year, two routine advisory visits are paid to each member garden to assess the problems on the spot, identify bottlenecks of productivity, and offer suggestions for improvement and effective resource management. Special visits are arranged if and when called for to attend to specific problems. About 10-15 training and demonstration programmes are arranged in a year at the gardens for technology adoption at grass root levels. Publication of quarterly and special advisory bulletins also reminds the planters about the work to be taken up in the next three months in advance so that the target set by the estate can be achieved. Area Scientific Committee seminars, one on agriculture and another on manufacturing are held every year. Such seminars provide opportunity where scientist and planters can exchange their views for mutual gain. Planting materialsIn the branch plot the following plating materials are available: TV series : TV1 to TV 30. Garden series : Narsingpore 4 & 18, Chandighat 9, Longai 17 & 26, Poloi 233, Huplongcherra 18 & 26, Happy Valley 39 and Sundaram (B/5/63). Special measures for CacharDue to undulating topography most of the estates apply nitrogen and potash in two splits at 60:40 ratio. For soil conservation and convenience of plucking the method for planting of tea and shade in different slopes of teelas as per contour was standardized. The technology for safe disposal of water from the slopes of teelas and harvest of rain water for winter irrigation has been given to industry. Pests and diseasesThe major pest in Cachar teelas is termite. Red rust in the flat areas surrounded by teelas is a major disease. High water table due to restricted out fall has been the main factor for occurrence of red rust. Black rot another disease predominantly found in the cold slopes due to over shading coupled with high humidity. Quality of Cachar TeasTea quality in Cachar has been improving with introduction of shorter plucking rounds. The infusion is bright with other characters of good liquor. Cachar Advisory CentreAdvisory Officer-in-Charge:Asstt. Advisory Officer:N.A. For more information and service, contact:
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icts, viz., Silchar, Hailakandi and Karimganj. The
average rainfall is about 3000 mm but the distribution pattern is highly uneven
as 92% of total rainfall is received during April to October with the highest
rainfall in June. The remaining 8% is received between November and March. The
principal river flowing through this valley is the 'Barak' which rises on the
southern slopes of the Nagaland and forms the northern boundary of Manipur
State. The landscape in Cachar tea 
areas is composed of small hillocks (called teelas),
plains (flat & plateau), and low land (the bheels). The most important
characteristic of this area in relation to Brahmaputra Valley is its geological
newness and water stagnation. The stagnation of water in low lying areas led to
the formation of 'Bheel' i.e., bog or true peat. The teela (small hillocks) of
Cachar shows considerable variation in nature of the underlying rocks. The
approximate percentage of tea under different topographies are: teelas 35%,
flat & plateau 60% and bheesl 5%.