India’s tea crop expected to decline in December 2011

Friday, 13 January 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

New Delhi: India’s tea production is expected to have declined in the last month of 2011 on account of bad weather conditions in the main growing states of Assam and West Bengal.

Tea output in North India – which accounts for three-fourths of India’s total tea output – registered a fall in both October and November of the 2011 calendar year.

Indian Tea Association Joint Secretary Mr S Patra told PTI that tea output in Assam and West Bengal has been affected due to bad weather. In the October-November period, there was no rainfall, which coupled with dry conditions and the early onset of winter has led to a decline in output.

“We expect tea output to decline in December also, as similar weather conditions have been witnessed last month as well,” he pointed out.

The Tea Board is expected to publish the tea output data for December, 2011, in February this year.

Tea production in North India fell by 7 per cent to 65.79 million kg in November last year from 70.82 million kg in November, 2010, Tea Board data said.

Tea production in Assam, which accounts for almost half of total tea output in the country, dipped by 10 per cent to 37.09 million kg in November, 2011, from 41.28 million kg in the year-ago period.

Similarly, output in West Bengal declined by 3 per cent to 25.74 million kg in November last year from 26.40 million kg in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In a similar fashion, production of the brew witnessed a decline in October, 2011, due to a drop in output in Assam and West Bengal.

Tea output declined by 3 per cent to 117.49 million kg in October, 2011, from 120.73 million kg in the year-ago period.

During the month, production in Assam declined by 2 per cent to 70.46 million kg from 72.11 million kg in the same period of the previous year, while tea output in West Bengal dipped by 10 per cent to 22.97 million kg from 25.45 million kg a year ago.

The premier body of tea associations in India, the Consultative Committee of Plantations Association (CCPA), has also pointed toward a decline in production of the brew.

According to the CCPA, weather conditions were extremely dry during the October to early December period in most North-East tea-producing districts, which has resulted in a substantial decline in the crop. While temperatures are still falling, the season in North-East India is almost at an end.

As per a recent assessment by the CCPA, it was projected that North India would witness a decline in production in October, November and December, 2011, vis-a-vis 2010 levels.