Ever since 1976, the Tea Board started funding the time bound projects like “Chemistry of tea clones”. A Lion’s share of funds contributed by the Tea Board/Commerce Ministry as grant-in-aid besides UPASI TRF receives grant from various government agencies for time bound research projects. Government agencies which fund for research projects are the Tea Board, National Tea Research Foundation (NTRF), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Sulphate of Potash Information Board (SOPIB), Washington, Green Tea Research Association, Japan and O-Cha (Tea) Pioneer Academic Research Grant Programme, Japan. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research had also granted adhoc research projects. The status of the projects conducted by various divisions of UPASI is presented here under.
| Project Title | Funding agency | Commencing Date | Status | Division |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Development, characterization and evaluation of microbial agents and their novel bioactive metabolites for the management of pests and diseases in tea (Code No. NTRF: 208 / 2019) | NTRF | 2020 | Completed (2023) | Entomology |
| NTRF funded project: AI based imaging solution for detection of pest attack in tea leaves Using aerial imaging. | NTRF | 2023 | In progress | Entomology |
| Field evaluation of four bioproducts of Green Harvest India Biotech private limited | Green harvest Bio-Tech Pvt. Limited | 2023 | In progress | Entomology |
| Unravelling the pesticide resistance mechanism of tea mosquito bug through integration of genomics and metabolomics approaches (Code No. NTRF: 17(515)/2023/7773) | NTRF | 2024 | In progress | Entomology |
| Black Tea: Potential Therapeutic Supplement for Breast Cancer. Effect of Black Tea Extracts on Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis through Modulation of Micro RNA and Cancer Gene Expression with Mazumdar Shaw Center for Translational Research, Bangalore. (Scheme Code No. NTRF: 189/2016) | NTRF | 2016 | Completed (2019) | Plant Pathology & Microbiology |
| Studies on agrochemical degrading soil microbes and bioremediation in tea ecosystem (Scheme Code No. NTRF: 203/2018) | NTRF | 2019 | Completed (2021) | Plant Pathology & Microbiology |
| Development, characterization and evaluation of microbial agents and their novel bioactive metabolites for the management of pests and diseases in tea. (Scheme Code No. NTRF: 208/2019) | NTRF | 2020 | Completed (2023) | Plant Pathology & Microbiology |
| Development of sustainable agriculture practices for biotic and abiotic stress management in conventional and organic tea plantations (SchemeNo.BT/PR45283/NER/95/1919/2022) | DBT-NER TEA Group-3 | 2022 | Completed (2025) | Plant Pathology & Microbiology |
| Evaluation of the Efficacy of Wetting Agent (NUTRASTICK) in terms of Enhanced Antifungal/Insecticidal Properties” (Study No. DR/PATH/PPF/WA/2025-2026/01) | M/s. Gassin Pierre Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata | 2025 | In progress | Plant Pathology & Microbiology |
| Unravelling the pesticide resistance mechanisms of tea mosquito bug through integration of genomic and metabolomics approaches | NTRF | 2024 | In progress | Plant Physiology & Biotechnology |
| Value addition of south Indian black teas with blending of medicinal plants | UPASI & TDU | 2024 | Completed (2025) | Tea Technology |
| Evaluation of Tea Leaf Reading Machine (BALLATRONIX) in tea | M/s. Solidaridad Network India Pvt. Ltd | 2023 | Completed (2024) | Tea Technology |
| Evaluation of string biostimulant in tea | M/s. String Biostimulant Pvt. Ltd | 2023 | Completed (2024) | Tea Technology |
| Evaluation of tea dispensing machine | M/s. Boatload Minds Private Limited | 2025 | In progress | Tea Technology |
| Evaluation of pectinase enzyme (NOVONESIS) on quality of CTC black tea | M/s. NOVONESIS | 2025 | In progress | Tea Technology |
| Mapping of energy consumption during tea processing from plucking to made tea | HUL | 2023 | Completed (2024) | Tea Technology |
| Nano Urea for the Sustainable Tea Cultivation in Southern India | IFFCO | 2022 | Completed (2023) | Soil Chemistry |
| Nano Urea Plus for the Sustainable Tea Cultivation in Southern India | IFFCO | 2024 | In progress | Soil Chemistry |
| Moving towards carbon neutral pathway for the Indian tea industry | HUL | 2023 | Completed (2025) | Soil Chemistry |
| Package of agronomic practices on Japanese model to suit mechanization in south India | NTRF | 2021 | Completed (2023) | Botany |
| Identify key gaps in tea leaf composition between machine pluck Vs Hand pluck establish correlation between leaf compositions and end cup quality | HUL | 2024 | Completed (2025) | Botany |
| Moving towards a carbon neutral pathway for the Indian tea industry | HUL | 2023 | Completed (2025) | Botany |
| Germplasm characterization, genomics analysis and gene discovery for yield metabolite and stress tolerance in tea | DBT | 2024 | Completed (2025) | Botany |
| Tea genome sequencing Phase - III | NTRF | 2024 | In progress | Botany |
| Studies on the sources of pyrrolizidine alkaloids contamination in tea in south India | NTRF | 2024 | In progress | Botany |
