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This advisory branch was set up in 1977 at New Chumta Tea Estate. Two years later, the office was shifted to 3rd Mile Sevoke Road, Salugura, Siliguri from which the advisory service was offered to member tea gardens in the Terai area of West Bengal till 1992 when the branch was again shifted to the present campus at Bengdubi. It is 13 km by road from Siliguri and 5 km from Bagdogra airport. The branch has a soil-testing laboratory functioning at Bengdubi and a meteorological station at Gungaram T.E. ActivitiesThe branch's basic objective is transfer of technology through advisory visits, field demonstration for grass root level workers, Area Scientific Committee (ASC) seminars on agriculture and manufacturing, quarterly advisory bulletin, etc. The ASC seminars are held annually. The soil-testing laboratory offers analytical service to the member estates at a nominal cost. At present advisory services are rendered to 58 member tea gardens of Terai. Terai Tea areas:The tea growing belt of Terai is situated at 26°28' N latitude and 88°48' E longitude with an average elevation of 123.6 cm amsl and is a narrow strip of land lying below the Himalayan foothills and extends up to Bihar border. The north Terai is situated at the base of Himalayan range and the topography is that of foothills with steep gradient while the south and western Terai is plain. The region receives an average annual rainfall of more than 3000 mm, which is unevenly distributed. About 95% of the total rainfall occurs during May to October. The remaining 5% are distributed over the rest six months. The average maximum temperature in the region is 30°C and minimum 18°C. The soil in north Terai is sandy loam with stony/gravely patches. In south and west Terai, the soils are sandy loam in texture. The soils of North Dinajpur area vary from sandy or loamy sand to sandy loam. These light texture alluvial soils of Terai experiences fast depletion of moisture and low nutrient retention. The total area under tea is 20,000 ha producing around 35 million kg of made tea at present. Total production in this region in 1960 was around 8 million kg made tea. Since then there was a steady progression of both production and productivity. In recent times Terai tea industry has remarkable achievements in respect of quality as well. Special problems of TeraiDue to uneven distribution of rainfall, Terai experiences severe droughts each year with moisture deficit as high as 340 mm in the lean dry months. The region also experiences hot desiccating winds during the dry period in February to April leading to rapid moisture loss through transpiration resulting in severe scorching and defoliation of maintenance leaves of tea bushes. Due to adverse growing conditions in the early part of the season, the tea shoots quickly turn into hard banjis that affect quality and there is loss of valuable first flush and part of second flush crop. Irrigation and development of microclimate through adequate shade, agro forestry and shelterbelts of evergreen trees on the southwestern borders of tea gardens have therefore, become imperative. Red spider mite, greenfly and thrips are common pests in the region while diseases like black rot and red rust in patches in some gardens and seasonal appearance of blister blight is common in North Terai. Terai Advisory Centree-mail: TRA.terai@tocklai.net Advisory Officer-in-Charge:For more information and service, contact:
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