Poor weather conditions have led to a lesser crop thus impacting the domestic tea output which has missed the 1,200-million-kg mark in 2014. The poor show is due to a decline in output from Assam Valley that contributes to 60 per cent of domestic production.
For the first time in recent years, India’s tea production has fallen below the previous year. “The country’s overall production has fallen to 1,184.80 million kg (mkg) from 1,200.41 mkg in 2013, a decline of nearly 1.3 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta, compiler and publisher of ‘Global Tea Digest 2014’ told BusinessLine.
Tea output in North India fell by 15 mkg and in South India by 0.61 mkg.
North India’s production dropped to 943.62 mkg from 958.62 mkg.
Assam continued to top India’s tea table but its production fell to 589.77 mkg from 621.87 mkg. West Bengal, however, posted an increase in production to 329.31 mkg from 312.88 mkg.
South India’s output dropped marginally to 241.18 mkg from 241.79 mkg. Here, Tamil Nadu was the only State to produce a lower output.
Its production dropped to 168.93 mkg from 173.36 mkg. Kerala’s output rose to 65.52 mkg from 62.84 mkg.