India’s tea production in June fell nearly 14% to 123.91 million kg from a year earlier of 143.64 million kg, as per data compiled by the state-run Tea Board. This fall in output is on account of lower plucking in the top producing north-eastern state of Assam. The production in Assam dropped by nearly 15.94% from 72.46 million kg a year earlier to 60.91 million kg this year in June due to heavy rainfall that hit plucking.
The state of West Bengal also witnessed a fall of 7.29% in production to 35.12 million kg. Besides, the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka have recorded production of 17.32, 6.70 and 0.76 million kg respectively.
India is the world’s second biggest tea producer, exports CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade mainly to Egypt, Pakistan and the UK, and the orthodox variety to Iraq, Iran and Russia.