Ozone-friendly tea in market soon

by Dhaneshi YATAWARA

Sri Lankan tea industry will be Ozone-friendly by phasing out the use of Methyl Bromide in tea plant nurseries. Methyl Bromide is considered a ozone-degrading chemical and according to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer the world has to stop using Methyl Bromide by 2015.

"Methyl Bromide was used in the tea plant nurseries for a long time as a pest controller specially against nematodes living in the soil," a spokesperson for the National Ozone Unit said. According to him the Tea Research Institute following long-term researches has discovered numerous ways to control nematodes and all the tea nurseries are now adopting these techniques.

"Methyl Bromide can be used under the Montreal Protocol only for quarantine and pay shipment purposes and accordingly the chemical will be used only for these purposes in Sri Lanka from this year onwards," he said.

Sri Lanka's National Ozone Unit operates under the Ministry of Environment. A new logo is designed for Sri Lanka's Ozone- friendly tea brands and the Sri Lanka Tea Board will be launching it by January next year.