In a groundbreaking move towards sustainable agriculture, the Trustea Sustainable Tea Foundation, in collaboration with the Inhana Organic Research Foundation (IORF), has launched the Trustea Emission Calculator (TEC) – India’s inaugural carbon assessment tool designed exclusively for the tea sector.
Developed using the robust ACFA Version 2.0 framework – a science based, India specific Agriculture Carbon Footprint Assessor created by IORF and ICAR-ATARI (Zone V), Kolkata – the TEC tool empowers tea industry stakeholders to precisely gauge their carbon footprint at the field level. This pioneering initiative aims to build awareness, establish baseline emissions, & forge effective strategies to reduce the carbon footprint across the tea value chain, steering the industry firmly towards Net Zero compliance. Available as a free app on both the Google and Apple App Stores, the basic version of the TEC tool is designed for universal use. Whether managing expansive tea estates, operating brought leaf factories, or even small-scale tea growers, users can input detailed data including the area under tea cultivation, made tea production, use of chemical fertilizers, pesticide and pest management rounds, as well as alternate inputs such as compost, cow dung, and neem oil. Additionally, the tool calculates energy usage from sources like petrol, diesel, coal, and electricity, outputting carbon footprints in both kgCO₂e per hectare and kgCO₂e per kg of made tea.
The TEC tool not only provides a benchmark study for the carbon footprint of tea but also facilitates assessments of vulnerability to climate change mitigation, marking a significant step in promoting climate-smart tea production and reinforcing India’s leadership in sustainable agricultural practices.
