Drying of orthodox tea. Gachege farmers urged to embrace this type of tea farming when KTDA rolls out the programme later this year. [Facebook/Orthodox Tea Masters]Tea farmers in Gachege, Gatundu North have been urged to embrace growing orthodox tea when the Kenya Tea Development Agency finally rolls out the programme.Zonal Director for Gachege Tea electoral area Benson Thuku said that the tea will go a long way in boosting the farmers monthly and annual incomes."This is an idea that is supposed to have been implemented before yesterday and I urge local farmers to take advantage of it. You realize that green tea harvest in the next three months will be minimal due to dry weather. Orthodox tea is able to withstand long dry spells," Thuku told a local TV station on Thursday.He added that orthodox tea has alternative markets in countries like Iran and Russia, where it is mostly consumed and was, therefore, not going to affect the traditional market for green tea.Orthodox teas are whole leaf teas manufactured using the traditional process of making tea, as opposed CTC teas that are made through the Crush, Tear, and Curl (CTC) process of manufacture producing a granular leaf particle, states the Wikipedia.KTDA Board chairman Peter Kanyago on Wednesday said that once the agency starts manufacturing the tea, the market will be ample and good."Orthodox tea is more marketable and demanding compared to CTC teas, but it is complicated to process.More than Sh100 million will be used to install the machines. We have ordered the machines and by the end of this year, we are supposed to start manufacturing," he said in Nairobi on Wednesday.
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