The production of tea in the country stood at 55.95 million kg in December, as adverse weather and plantation workers’ strikes hit plucking, as per data compiled by Tea Board. This is a fall of 5.78% as compared to a production of 59.38 million kg from a year earlier. India is the world’s second biggest tea producer and exports CTC (crush-tear-curl) grade mainly to Egypt, Pakistan and the UK, and the orthodox variety to Iraq, Iran and Russia.
The production of tea in North India dropped by 0.98% and stood at 41.36 million kg compared to 41.77 million kg production in December last year. The production in West Bengal dropped 10.08% and stood at 17.94 million kg compared to 19.95 million kg last year in December, while output in Assam jumped by 7.49% to 22.38 million kg this December.
Tea production in South India declined by 17.15% and stood at 14.59 million kg compared to 14.59 million kg in December last year. The production in states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka stood at 10.43 million kg, 3.69 million kg and 0.47 million kg respectively.