Good tea news

After months of disturbing negative signals, Assam’s tea industry has reasons to cheer: tea production during the month of April this year has shown a very encouraging upward trend in comparison to the production during the same month of the previous year. As prominently reported on the front page of this newspaper in its Saturday edition, Assam produced 42.93 million kg of tea during April 2024, which is 4.83 million kg more than what was produced during April 2023. Quoting Tea Board figures, it has been stated that while the contribution of big growers stood at 22.64 million kg during the month, the small tea growers segment on its part contributed 20.29 million kg. Another reason that Assam should take note of is that though the state produced more tea in April 2024 in comparison to that of April 2023, the overall tea production in the country during April 2024 was less by 7.09 million kg in comparison to what was produced during April 2023. Though the Tea Board has not furnished the reasons behind the production upswing in Assam during April this year, it is for the industry captains themselves to explain, based on their on-the-ground experience. It must be kept in mind that climate change has already started impacting negatively on Assam’s tea industry, and the industry in general and the Tea Research Association in particular will have to work overtime in order to find out ways to cope with the changing scenario. It is important to note that the Government of Assam has acknowledged the threats faced by the state’s tea production due to climate change and has approved the Assam State Action Plan for Climate Change-II for 2021–2030 to make the state more climate resilient. Details of the action plan, particularly those focused on tea, have yet to be spelled out. According to experts, tea requires a temperature range of 25–32 degrees Celsius, apart from well-distributed annual rainfall of about 200 cm. Moreover, the plant requires a minimum day length of nine to ten hours, and minimum temperatures not going below 10–12 degrees. In Assam, tea is a nine-month crop, and the harvesting takes place from March to November. While the tea plants pass through a dormancy period during the winter (December to February), the harvesting is broadly divided into three parts. The first harvest, which begins in mid-March and continues for 30 to 35 days, is the first flush, and the tea quality is said to be best during the first flush as plants get good sunshine and little showers, fostering the growth of tea leaves. Then comes the second flush from May-June until about October, and then finally, the winter flush during October-November.