Assam’s tea industry has been facing with the challenge of rising input costs and un-remunerative prices, from the last two decades reflecting adversely on returns to investment. The Assam Branch of Indian Tea Association (ABITA) meanwhile has asked the state’s tea industry to increase production of the beverage.
The shortage of labour in tea estates in recent years has also thrown up a challenge to meet targets in production, thereby necessitating the option of mechanization in plucking.
Additionally, the tea industry has further experienced extreme weather patterns, high temperatures and a very uneven scattered rainfall coupled with crop loss, increased pest activity due to change in the bio-diversity and long spell of droughts.