Biodiversity Monitoring Study to Assess the Impact of a Comprehensive Organic Farming Practice namely Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology on the Ecological Components of India’s Largest Organic Tea Estate of Barak Valley, Assam, India

Abstract

Biodiversity monitoring study was conducted in West Jalinga Tea Estate for the evaluation of the management impact on the different ecological components of the plantations viz. soil, water and bird diversity. The tea garden switched over to organic cultivation through the adoption of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology in 2001–02. Evaluation of soil quality components indicated improvement in soil health as compared to the conventional tea estates in the same agro-climatic zone. Especially enhancement of soil microbial population might be due to regular application of the microbial rich Novcom compost, which on the other hand rendered positive influence on the other soil quality parameters. Water quality in terms of both physicochemical parameters and macro invertebrate diversity indicates improvement of stream water quality within the tea estate. The different ecological indices like Species Richness Index, Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index and Rapid Biological Protocol III that measure water quality; also indicated significant improvement in water quality of the streams flowing through West Jalinga Tea estates when compared with the conventional tea estates. Bird diversity indices showed richness of species and population in the plantation which indirectly reflects an overall improvement of the ecological environment. This improvement was probably due to the stoppage of synthetic agro chemicals and simultaneous adoption of a comprehensive organic package of practice.

Keywords: Inhana Rational Farming Technology, soil microbial population, water quality, species richness, bird diversity.

Cite this Article

Ranjan Bera, Antara Seal, Avik Gupta. Biodiversity Monitoring Study to Assess the Impact of a Comprehensive Organic Farming Practice namely Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology on the Ecological Components of India’s Largest Organic Tea Estate of Barak Valley, Assam, India. Research & Reviews: Journal of Botany. 2019; 8(1): 12–35p.