Many Chinese tea producers and farmers who use agrochemicals don’t receive any safety training. They’re therefore unaware of the health risks posed by the chemicals. As a result they are spraying agrochemicals in a way that’s detrimental to themselves and the environment.
Working together to reduce the impact of agrochemical use.
ETP has entered into a partnership with the Chinese Tea Research Institute (TRI) on a project to provide agrochemical training to farmers in order to reduce the immediate and long term health risks.
To help develop an effective training programme, ETP and TRI took part in a training session with international agrochemical experts, Croplife. ETP and TRI conducted a baseline survey to gauge what level of understanding farmers had on in agrochemical management and to identify areas of risk. The material from Croplife was then adapted for the Chinese Tea Industry by TRI and designed to change habitual practices which can be harmful.
Staff from TRI then ran training sessions with managers, farmers and sprayers, covering a range of issues including:
- Hazardous chemical information
- Appropriate Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- How to correctly store, mix and spray agrochemicals
- Correct disposal of chemical container
- Proper maintenance of spraying equipment to minimise leaks
Farmers from Hunan and Zhejiang provinces were the first to benefit from the training, and these sites will be followed up in during 2011. Farmers from Yunnan and another region of Zhejiang will take part in 2011. By the end of this season ETP plans to devise a long term systematic way to spread good practice that will work in the Chinese context.
