Career In TEA
Tea is one of the most refreshing and popular beverages of the world. India being the world's largest producer, exporter and consumer of tea there is a wide scope for careers in this field. Though not a very well known career option, jobs in this area can be interesting. There are a variety of jobs one can specialize in a tea industry. all together it is known as tea management. Tea tasting is one of the highly specialized areas of work. Other areas are that of researchers, plantation managers, tea brokers, consultants etc.
Tea husbandry and techno-logy is the sub branch of plantation crops in agriculture. The term 'husbandry' means cultural practices and field practices to be adopted and 'technology' means scientific technical know how to be generated. This branch is special in the senses it includes all the disciplines of agriculture e.g. agronomy, soil science, agricultural botany, agricultural botany, plant breeding and genetics, entomology, pathology, bio-technology, bio-chemistry agricultural economics and Agri-business management. In India, modern and scientific tea husbandry began when tea research association came into being in Assam - jorhat. Simultaneously the department of tea husbandry and technology came into being in Assam. Research work is being carried out at every center of the Indian council of agricultural research as well as state agricultural universities in and around the jurisdiction of tea growing areas.
Work in the tea industry includes plantation management, processing, packing, auctioning, branding, marketing and research. Plantation work involves nurturing tea plants in the plantations which includes preparing the soil, applying the appropriate manures and fertilizers, choosing the right variety best suited for the prevailing conditions, layout, planting and supervising pruning, insect, pest and disease management and plucking of the leaves. Processing work involves the withering, rolling/ crushing-tearing -curling, and fermentation, drying and grading, which take place in factories. The tea is then packed and dispatched to auction centres. The various samples of tea from different plantations are tested, blended and branded by the tea tasters in the auction centres. Tea brokers who have a background in planting, tasting and a know how of market trends auction the tea and the marketing personnel market the final product. Although computers are now used for blending varieties of tea, the tea taster's verdict is still considered the ultimate test for determining the quality of tea.
In India, best tea growing areas are Assam, Darjeeling, nilgiris, and kangra (himachal pradesh). Seventy four percent of the tea producing areas in India is in northeast and twenty four percent area is in south India. The assamica variety of tea is grown in assam and cambod variety in south india and china hybrid in kangra valley of himachal pradesh and Darjeeling and adjoining areas. As tea is a seasonal plant, the same leaves from the same bush, plucked in different seasons, have different flavour and quality. Each of these varieties requires different ways of handling. Also the flavour and colour depends on the geographical conditions and type of variety. The assamica and cambod variety are known for colour while china hybrid grown in dmjeeling and kangra valley are known for flavour.
Eligibility and educational requirements: even though anybody who have a basic educational background can get into tea industry, and pick up the skills required on the job, a degree or a post graduate in agricultural science (tea husbandry and technology) or a b.sc. In botany, food sciences, horticulture or allied fields is preferred these days. Candidates who have specialized in business management (hrm) are recruited for handling labour and other welfare measures and overall plantation management while candidates specialized in marketing are recruited for marketing jobs.
New entrants are taken on as assistants at the plantation level. After gaining experience and competence an assistant can get promoted to the level of assistant manager, and then manager of a tea garden. Most assistants can expect to become managers in 12-15 years of service.
Potential tea tasters selected are trained on the job. Besides natural talents, vigorous training for a number of years is essential before becoming a professional tea taster and then a tea-tasting manager. Besides acquiring skills in tasting, they need to work on their managerial and marketing capabilities too.
Personal attributes
One opting for a career in the field of tea management must have an interest and liking for outdoor life. Must be physically fit, adaptable and self-reliant. Leadership qualities and the ability to deal with labourers is an added asset for plantation/factory managers. One must also have initiative, be knowledgeable about the tea market and be alert to changing market forces, and should be willing to undertake strenuous work. Should possess fair knowledge about the topography and geographical location of the tea estate. Tea tasters need to have keen taste buds and should keep their sensitivities clean. They should therefore be inclined to keep smoking, drinking and intake of spicy foods in check. Those planning to become brokers should be level headed and disciplined and be able to strike a good rapport with producers and buyers.
Training and education
The subject matter of the tea husbandry and technology at postgraduate (pg) level consists of sub-disciplines of crop production (planting, pruning and plucking), irrigation management, weed management, insect pest and disease management, economics and marketing and processing technology. At pg level during ones specialization in one of these sub disciplines, the tea technologist normally completes his sub-specialization by offering some minor and supporting courses in the disciplines of soil science, plant physiology, genetics and plant breeding, biochemistry, biotechno-logy agricultural meteorology, "statistics and environmental sciences.
The pg students are encouraged to offer their major, minor and supporting courses in those areas, which require a proper attention for reshaping our futuristic requirements of trained manpower covering different aspects of tea husbandry and technology. pg research is generally directed towards national/local priorities, institutional mandates and stakeholders' needs. a greater emphasis is generally given to offer the courses in the field of nutrition, processing, organic farming, soil microbiology, agro-horticulture, agro-forestry, resource optimization and other need based components of alternate enter-prises with the changing scenario in tea industry and agriculture.
Presently there is a post graduation in tea husbandry and technology and in tea industry and company’s postgraduate is preferred. The degree in plantation crops (tea science) at ph.d level is given by only by assam agricultural university and uttar banga krishi vishvavidyalaya. These courses are offered exclusively in the agricultural colleges. a graduate degree in agriculture is generally essential to pursue postgraduate course.
Training institutes
There are a number of institutes providing training in tea management. The minimum qualification required to get admission in a training institute is class 10 or 10+2. These institutes teach tea production to processing, finance, marketing and sales where tea tasting forms part of the curriculum.
Although some experts believe that tea tasting need natural talent and cannot be taught in any institute, tea tasters have to be trained either on the job/or in an institute to detect tea quality by looking at the brightness (blackish or brownish), colour (like coppery or bright red), strength and body of the tea. they should be able to tell between a mellow cup and a brisk cup, able to distinguish tea from each specific region from their flavour, be able to sniff a smoke tint in the tea, and examine the evenness; colour or brightness of dry/infused leafs to know the strength and body of the tea. They have to be trained to make their palates proficient enough to register even the minute differences.
l assam agricultural university, department of tea husbandry and stechnoloqy, jorhat, assam (rsc & m.sc agriculture course)
Website: http://www.aau.ac. inlindex.htm
l indian institute of plantation management, jnana bharathi campus, p.o malathalli, bangalore-560056 phone : 91-80-3211716, e-mail : contact us website: www.iipmb.com
l dipras institute of professional studies, 23/28 gariahat road, kolkata-700029 phone: 033-24600743/65458717
e-mail: contact us ,
website: www.dipsschoolo finanagement.com
l nitm, darjeeling tea research and management association p.o kadamtala-734433, dist. darjeeling, west bengal phone: 0353-2581582, fax: 0353-2581593
l assam darjeeling tea research centre, kurseong, darj eeling-734203 (west bengal)
l up asi tea research institute, nirar dam bpo, valparai-642127 (tamil nadu)
l birla institute of futuristic studies, 17 a darga road, park circus, kolkata-700017
l the tea tasters academy, coonoor, nilgiris (kerala)
Universities/institutions offer-ing the courses: there are 5 state agricultural universities (saus) offering postgraduate courses in tea husbandry and technology/plantation crops. these are:
1. assam agriculture university (aau), jorhat, assam (department of tea husbandry and technology)
2. ch. sarwan kumar krishi vishwa vidyalaya (cskhpkv), palampur, himachal pradesh (department of tea husbandry and technology)
3. bidhan chandra krishi vishva vidyalaya (bckvv), haringha-tta" nadia, west bengal (depart-ment of plantation crops)
4. uttar banga krishi vishwa-vidyalaya (ookv), p.o. pundibari, distt. cooch behar, west bengal. (department of plantation crops and processing technology)
5. tamil nadu agricultural university (tnau), chennai, tamil nadu (department of plantation crops)
Scholarships
Scholarship is also available to pursue graduation and post graduation in the discipline of tea husbandry and technology. icar offers national talent scholar-ship@ rs 1200/- per month, to first 230 meritorious candidates in the exam conducted by icar in each of the ten subjects provided a candidate takes admission in any institution not falling in his/her own home state. icar offers jrf (two seats) in the field of agronomy (tea husbandry and technology) at post graduate level. At the postgraduate level, respective. state governments as well as icar offers a number of scholarships. icar conducts an all India entrance examination for the award of lcar's junior research fellowships (jrf) and admission to 100% seats of master's degree programme at iari, ivri, cife, bdri and 25% seats at all the sau's, cau, and central university-ties in the field of agriculture, veterinary & allied sciences. near about 500 scholarships are offered by the icar.
Job opportunities/career options
many jobs in tea industry require diploma or degree in agriculture and specialization in tea husbandry and plantation crops is an added advantage. The postgraduate degree offers job opportunities at supervisory or managerial levels and to conduct research in different r&d sectors. There are multiple options for a tea husbandry and technologist in the below mentioned sectors.
1. Government organizations
(a) for m.sc. ag (tea husbandry & technology)
the state agricultural universi-ties (saus) are recruiting m.sc. in tea husbandry and techno-logy as assistant scientist/assistant professors/assistant extension specialist and technical assistants. council of scientific and industrial res-earch (csir) can also appoint tea husbandry and technologist at their regional research institutes and centers.
(b) Educationist : lecturer, reader, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, dean in deemed to be university (iari) and in agriculture universities and colleges.
(c) training organizer & training associate in krishi vigyan kendras (kvks) in the jurisdiction of tea areas.
(d) Agriculture/field officers in different nationalized banks including national bank for agriculture and rural develop-ment (nabard)
(e) agricultural development officers and agricultural exten-sion officers in the state agricultural department and also officers in the department of industries.
2. private sector
(a) the major tea area is in north east and south india and also there are big corporates like tata, brooke bond, lipton, assam brook, parry agro industries, williamson magor's apart from tea estates who induct post graduates in tea as asstt. managers and also scientists in the research and development sector. Most of these giants are unaware of postgraduate programme especially in tea husbandry and technology in himachal pradesh so there is a need to link up with these industries. Besides this tea technologist can opt for a career as a tea taster.
(b) self employment in agriculture
(i) a tea technologist is trained like an agriculturist so he can act as a consultant, seed producer grower (horticulture and vegetable), and contractor and can start vocational education.
(c) plantation / factory managers
tea plantations are controlled by managers who have junior assistants and assistant managers, depending on the size and requirement of the plantation, to assist them in the smooth functioning of the tea estate. Their work involves supervision of all plantation work involved from planting to plucking, processing to packing and transport of tea to auction houses. New entrants are taken on as assistants at the plantation level. Experience is the deciding factor in the appointment of a manager. it is a long wait as it usually takes twelve to fifteen years. The Indian institute of plantation management, bangalore offers a training programme on the relevant subject under the Indian commodity economy.
(d) tea taster
Tea tasting is a highly specialized area. Tea tasters differentiate between the various flavours of tea and help to brand the varieties according to quality. Most tea companies employ tea tasters for ensuring quality standards; and preparing blends. Tea tasting is typically learnt on the job. tea tasters have to develop the expertise to distinguish between the taste and aroma of different teas. tea tasters need to develop managerial as well as marketing skills. tea tasters should keep their sensitivities clean and should keep smoking, drinking and intake of spicy foods in check. the draw-backs can be damage to your digestive system especially at the peak season when you may have to taste as many as 200-300 cups of tea a day and result in stains on your teeth which has to be removed periodically. tasters are recruited by manufacturing companies, brokers as well as buyers. in a manufacturing company, the taster detects defects in the production process by looking at the colour and size of the leaves to determine if they have been fermented or dried under fire and sends them back to the factory to rectify if needed. they also have to coordinate with gardens, look after import and exports, advice researchers on commercial factors like taste, economic viability and maturability of tea etc. in the broker's office, the taster plays an advisory role and informs manufacturers about marketing trends. In buying houses besides ensuring quality, tasters have to know what's happening in both the domestic and international markets. Many youngsters opt for this profession because of the out-of-the-ordinary nature of the work and the high pay.
(e) researcher
Research is an integral part of the industry. Much research is conducted by botanists, biotechnologists and other scientists, who study methods of producing disease-resistant, high yielding varieties of tea, as also strains that produce leaves that are natural blends .of various teas. They receive advice from tea tasters on commercial factors like taste, economic viability and maturability of tea. Besides there are many areas like soil and plant relation-ships and mineralization studies. The tea research association at jorhat (assam) is a premier organisation where pioneering work is being done in the field of research. csir and agricultural universities are also doing pioneer work in this field. the research associations as well as tea plantation owners employ researchers.
(f) tea brokers
Tea brokers act as intermediaries between the planter-producer and the buyer, and must be up-todate with market trends and international prices. a background in tea industry and developing a keen tea tasting ability are important requisites in becoming a broker. at the auction centers, the tea samples are listed and evaluated by tea brokers. there are broking houses in the country where the brokers test the various samples of tea, which come from the different tea gardens. Those planning to become brokers should be level headed and disciplined and be able to strike a good rapport with producers and buyers.
(g) consultants
The tea board of India and various tea associations employ consultants. Experienced tea planters can take up consultancy services by offering advice on the varieties of tea to be planted, new varieties and their sources, recruitment and training of personnel, compensation, benefits and incentives to labour and so on.
(h) job prospects
India being the leading producer of tea in the world, the scope for a career in this field is immense. Tea companies or tea gardens, tea broking houses, tea associations and the tea board of India offer lucrative positions.
An experienced tea planter can move into tea brokerage or tea tasting or take up a job in a tea broking house. Senior professionals can branch off into becoming consultants offering advice. Those academically inclined may get into research positions open at many tea plantations.
(i) remuneration
A field most suited for nature lovers, as working one plantation may seem like living in a virtual paradise for those who like living in close proximity to nature. However, long spells of loneliness are a common occurrence. Despite the drawback, many youngsters are coming into the profession because of the good pay, attractive perks including a comfortable lifestyle with bungalow; car etc. trainees get, on an average, rs. 5,000 while senior professionals draw rs. 25,000 per month and specialized professionals can earn in the range of 40,000 - 50,000 per month.
Tea husbandry and techno-logy is the sub branch of plantation crops in agriculture. The term 'husbandry' means cultural practices and field practices to be adopted and 'technology' means scientific technical know how to be generated. This branch is special in the senses it includes all the disciplines of agriculture e.g. agronomy, soil science, agricultural botany, agricultural botany, plant breeding and genetics, entomology, pathology, bio-technology, bio-chemistry agricultural economics and Agri-business management. In India, modern and scientific tea husbandry began when tea research association came into being in Assam - jorhat. Simultaneously the department of tea husbandry and technology came into being in Assam. Research work is being carried out at every center of the Indian council of agricultural research as well as state agricultural universities in and around the jurisdiction of tea growing areas.
Work in the tea industry includes plantation management, processing, packing, auctioning, branding, marketing and research. Plantation work involves nurturing tea plants in the plantations which includes preparing the soil, applying the appropriate manures and fertilizers, choosing the right variety best suited for the prevailing conditions, layout, planting and supervising pruning, insect, pest and disease management and plucking of the leaves. Processing work involves the withering, rolling/ crushing-tearing -curling, and fermentation, drying and grading, which take place in factories. The tea is then packed and dispatched to auction centres. The various samples of tea from different plantations are tested, blended and branded by the tea tasters in the auction centres. Tea brokers who have a background in planting, tasting and a know how of market trends auction the tea and the marketing personnel market the final product. Although computers are now used for blending varieties of tea, the tea taster's verdict is still considered the ultimate test for determining the quality of tea.
In India, best tea growing areas are Assam, Darjeeling, nilgiris, and kangra (himachal pradesh). Seventy four percent of the tea producing areas in India is in northeast and twenty four percent area is in south India. The assamica variety of tea is grown in assam and cambod variety in south india and china hybrid in kangra valley of himachal pradesh and Darjeeling and adjoining areas. As tea is a seasonal plant, the same leaves from the same bush, plucked in different seasons, have different flavour and quality. Each of these varieties requires different ways of handling. Also the flavour and colour depends on the geographical conditions and type of variety. The assamica and cambod variety are known for colour while china hybrid grown in dmjeeling and kangra valley are known for flavour.
Eligibility and educational requirements: even though anybody who have a basic educational background can get into tea industry, and pick up the skills required on the job, a degree or a post graduate in agricultural science (tea husbandry and technology) or a b.sc. In botany, food sciences, horticulture or allied fields is preferred these days. Candidates who have specialized in business management (hrm) are recruited for handling labour and other welfare measures and overall plantation management while candidates specialized in marketing are recruited for marketing jobs.
New entrants are taken on as assistants at the plantation level. After gaining experience and competence an assistant can get promoted to the level of assistant manager, and then manager of a tea garden. Most assistants can expect to become managers in 12-15 years of service.
Potential tea tasters selected are trained on the job. Besides natural talents, vigorous training for a number of years is essential before becoming a professional tea taster and then a tea-tasting manager. Besides acquiring skills in tasting, they need to work on their managerial and marketing capabilities too.
Personal attributes
One opting for a career in the field of tea management must have an interest and liking for outdoor life. Must be physically fit, adaptable and self-reliant. Leadership qualities and the ability to deal with labourers is an added asset for plantation/factory managers. One must also have initiative, be knowledgeable about the tea market and be alert to changing market forces, and should be willing to undertake strenuous work. Should possess fair knowledge about the topography and geographical location of the tea estate. Tea tasters need to have keen taste buds and should keep their sensitivities clean. They should therefore be inclined to keep smoking, drinking and intake of spicy foods in check. Those planning to become brokers should be level headed and disciplined and be able to strike a good rapport with producers and buyers.
Training and education
The subject matter of the tea husbandry and technology at postgraduate (pg) level consists of sub-disciplines of crop production (planting, pruning and plucking), irrigation management, weed management, insect pest and disease management, economics and marketing and processing technology. At pg level during ones specialization in one of these sub disciplines, the tea technologist normally completes his sub-specialization by offering some minor and supporting courses in the disciplines of soil science, plant physiology, genetics and plant breeding, biochemistry, biotechno-logy agricultural meteorology, "statistics and environmental sciences.
The pg students are encouraged to offer their major, minor and supporting courses in those areas, which require a proper attention for reshaping our futuristic requirements of trained manpower covering different aspects of tea husbandry and technology. pg research is generally directed towards national/local priorities, institutional mandates and stakeholders' needs. a greater emphasis is generally given to offer the courses in the field of nutrition, processing, organic farming, soil microbiology, agro-horticulture, agro-forestry, resource optimization and other need based components of alternate enter-prises with the changing scenario in tea industry and agriculture.
Presently there is a post graduation in tea husbandry and technology and in tea industry and company’s postgraduate is preferred. The degree in plantation crops (tea science) at ph.d level is given by only by assam agricultural university and uttar banga krishi vishvavidyalaya. These courses are offered exclusively in the agricultural colleges. a graduate degree in agriculture is generally essential to pursue postgraduate course.
Training institutes
There are a number of institutes providing training in tea management. The minimum qualification required to get admission in a training institute is class 10 or 10+2. These institutes teach tea production to processing, finance, marketing and sales where tea tasting forms part of the curriculum.
Although some experts believe that tea tasting need natural talent and cannot be taught in any institute, tea tasters have to be trained either on the job/or in an institute to detect tea quality by looking at the brightness (blackish or brownish), colour (like coppery or bright red), strength and body of the tea. they should be able to tell between a mellow cup and a brisk cup, able to distinguish tea from each specific region from their flavour, be able to sniff a smoke tint in the tea, and examine the evenness; colour or brightness of dry/infused leafs to know the strength and body of the tea. They have to be trained to make their palates proficient enough to register even the minute differences.
l assam agricultural university, department of tea husbandry and stechnoloqy, jorhat, assam (rsc & m.sc agriculture course)
Website: http://www.aau.ac. inlindex.htm
l indian institute of plantation management, jnana bharathi campus, p.o malathalli, bangalore-560056 phone : 91-80-3211716, e-mail : contact us website: www.iipmb.com
l dipras institute of professional studies, 23/28 gariahat road, kolkata-700029 phone: 033-24600743/65458717
e-mail: contact us ,
website: www.dipsschoolo finanagement.com
l nitm, darjeeling tea research and management association p.o kadamtala-734433, dist. darjeeling, west bengal phone: 0353-2581582, fax: 0353-2581593
l assam darjeeling tea research centre, kurseong, darj eeling-734203 (west bengal)
l up asi tea research institute, nirar dam bpo, valparai-642127 (tamil nadu)
l birla institute of futuristic studies, 17 a darga road, park circus, kolkata-700017
l the tea tasters academy, coonoor, nilgiris (kerala)
Universities/institutions offer-ing the courses: there are 5 state agricultural universities (saus) offering postgraduate courses in tea husbandry and technology/plantation crops. these are:
1. assam agriculture university (aau), jorhat, assam (department of tea husbandry and technology)
2. ch. sarwan kumar krishi vishwa vidyalaya (cskhpkv), palampur, himachal pradesh (department of tea husbandry and technology)
3. bidhan chandra krishi vishva vidyalaya (bckvv), haringha-tta" nadia, west bengal (depart-ment of plantation crops)
4. uttar banga krishi vishwa-vidyalaya (ookv), p.o. pundibari, distt. cooch behar, west bengal. (department of plantation crops and processing technology)
5. tamil nadu agricultural university (tnau), chennai, tamil nadu (department of plantation crops)
Scholarships
Scholarship is also available to pursue graduation and post graduation in the discipline of tea husbandry and technology. icar offers national talent scholar-ship@ rs 1200/- per month, to first 230 meritorious candidates in the exam conducted by icar in each of the ten subjects provided a candidate takes admission in any institution not falling in his/her own home state. icar offers jrf (two seats) in the field of agronomy (tea husbandry and technology) at post graduate level. At the postgraduate level, respective. state governments as well as icar offers a number of scholarships. icar conducts an all India entrance examination for the award of lcar's junior research fellowships (jrf) and admission to 100% seats of master's degree programme at iari, ivri, cife, bdri and 25% seats at all the sau's, cau, and central university-ties in the field of agriculture, veterinary & allied sciences. near about 500 scholarships are offered by the icar.
Job opportunities/career options
many jobs in tea industry require diploma or degree in agriculture and specialization in tea husbandry and plantation crops is an added advantage. The postgraduate degree offers job opportunities at supervisory or managerial levels and to conduct research in different r&d sectors. There are multiple options for a tea husbandry and technologist in the below mentioned sectors.
1. Government organizations
(a) for m.sc. ag (tea husbandry & technology)
the state agricultural universi-ties (saus) are recruiting m.sc. in tea husbandry and techno-logy as assistant scientist/assistant professors/assistant extension specialist and technical assistants. council of scientific and industrial res-earch (csir) can also appoint tea husbandry and technologist at their regional research institutes and centers.
(b) Educationist : lecturer, reader, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, dean in deemed to be university (iari) and in agriculture universities and colleges.
(c) training organizer & training associate in krishi vigyan kendras (kvks) in the jurisdiction of tea areas.
(d) Agriculture/field officers in different nationalized banks including national bank for agriculture and rural develop-ment (nabard)
(e) agricultural development officers and agricultural exten-sion officers in the state agricultural department and also officers in the department of industries.
2. private sector
(a) the major tea area is in north east and south india and also there are big corporates like tata, brooke bond, lipton, assam brook, parry agro industries, williamson magor's apart from tea estates who induct post graduates in tea as asstt. managers and also scientists in the research and development sector. Most of these giants are unaware of postgraduate programme especially in tea husbandry and technology in himachal pradesh so there is a need to link up with these industries. Besides this tea technologist can opt for a career as a tea taster.
(b) self employment in agriculture
(i) a tea technologist is trained like an agriculturist so he can act as a consultant, seed producer grower (horticulture and vegetable), and contractor and can start vocational education.
(c) plantation / factory managers
tea plantations are controlled by managers who have junior assistants and assistant managers, depending on the size and requirement of the plantation, to assist them in the smooth functioning of the tea estate. Their work involves supervision of all plantation work involved from planting to plucking, processing to packing and transport of tea to auction houses. New entrants are taken on as assistants at the plantation level. Experience is the deciding factor in the appointment of a manager. it is a long wait as it usually takes twelve to fifteen years. The Indian institute of plantation management, bangalore offers a training programme on the relevant subject under the Indian commodity economy.
(d) tea taster
Tea tasting is a highly specialized area. Tea tasters differentiate between the various flavours of tea and help to brand the varieties according to quality. Most tea companies employ tea tasters for ensuring quality standards; and preparing blends. Tea tasting is typically learnt on the job. tea tasters have to develop the expertise to distinguish between the taste and aroma of different teas. tea tasters need to develop managerial as well as marketing skills. tea tasters should keep their sensitivities clean and should keep smoking, drinking and intake of spicy foods in check. the draw-backs can be damage to your digestive system especially at the peak season when you may have to taste as many as 200-300 cups of tea a day and result in stains on your teeth which has to be removed periodically. tasters are recruited by manufacturing companies, brokers as well as buyers. in a manufacturing company, the taster detects defects in the production process by looking at the colour and size of the leaves to determine if they have been fermented or dried under fire and sends them back to the factory to rectify if needed. they also have to coordinate with gardens, look after import and exports, advice researchers on commercial factors like taste, economic viability and maturability of tea etc. in the broker's office, the taster plays an advisory role and informs manufacturers about marketing trends. In buying houses besides ensuring quality, tasters have to know what's happening in both the domestic and international markets. Many youngsters opt for this profession because of the out-of-the-ordinary nature of the work and the high pay.
(e) researcher
Research is an integral part of the industry. Much research is conducted by botanists, biotechnologists and other scientists, who study methods of producing disease-resistant, high yielding varieties of tea, as also strains that produce leaves that are natural blends .of various teas. They receive advice from tea tasters on commercial factors like taste, economic viability and maturability of tea. Besides there are many areas like soil and plant relation-ships and mineralization studies. The tea research association at jorhat (assam) is a premier organisation where pioneering work is being done in the field of research. csir and agricultural universities are also doing pioneer work in this field. the research associations as well as tea plantation owners employ researchers.
(f) tea brokers
Tea brokers act as intermediaries between the planter-producer and the buyer, and must be up-todate with market trends and international prices. a background in tea industry and developing a keen tea tasting ability are important requisites in becoming a broker. at the auction centers, the tea samples are listed and evaluated by tea brokers. there are broking houses in the country where the brokers test the various samples of tea, which come from the different tea gardens. Those planning to become brokers should be level headed and disciplined and be able to strike a good rapport with producers and buyers.
(g) consultants
The tea board of India and various tea associations employ consultants. Experienced tea planters can take up consultancy services by offering advice on the varieties of tea to be planted, new varieties and their sources, recruitment and training of personnel, compensation, benefits and incentives to labour and so on.
(h) job prospects
India being the leading producer of tea in the world, the scope for a career in this field is immense. Tea companies or tea gardens, tea broking houses, tea associations and the tea board of India offer lucrative positions.
An experienced tea planter can move into tea brokerage or tea tasting or take up a job in a tea broking house. Senior professionals can branch off into becoming consultants offering advice. Those academically inclined may get into research positions open at many tea plantations.
(i) remuneration
A field most suited for nature lovers, as working one plantation may seem like living in a virtual paradise for those who like living in close proximity to nature. However, long spells of loneliness are a common occurrence. Despite the drawback, many youngsters are coming into the profession because of the good pay, attractive perks including a comfortable lifestyle with bungalow; car etc. trainees get, on an average, rs. 5,000 while senior professionals draw rs. 25,000 per month and specialized professionals can earn in the range of 40,000 - 50,000 per month.
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