Coronavirus pandemic brings down India’s Tea Output

Tea is used in almost every Indian household. Some like hot tea, some like cold tea but many prefer green tea and black tea due to its amazing health benefits. Tea brands are continuously innovated to make drinks for millennium generations. Today, with various types of tea, people beat heat and chill in the winters. 

In the financial year 2018, Indian tea industry reported the highest output and exports ever. Total tea production amounted to 1325.05 million kgs – a rise in 2016-2017 of 74.56 million kgs. The rise is about 6 percent in percentage terms. 

However, after the coronavirus outbreak, due to the extended lockdown the Indian tea industry had suffered huge loss as well. 

In the 2020 calendar India is heading for a large deficit– the first year in many years that India's production falls in a year below the previous year since for many years India produced record output year after year. 

The 'Global Tea Digest' Compiler, Rajesh Gupta, confirmed that from Jan-Oct 2019 to October 20 there has been a huge decrease (of about 151.6 mkg) in the final production of tea as per the official data released by the Tea Board. This meant a significant lack of 151.60 mkg or 12.80 per cent - a shortage that would usually be less harvestable over the two winter seasons of November and December. 

In January-October 2019, lockout and unfavorable weather caused a major loss of 152.24 mkg or 15.15 percent in northern production to 852.92 mkg, from 100 5.16mkg, Rajesh Gupta said. 

This year all the countries produced a lower production especially in the North. Assam continues to top the production table of the country but with a dip of up to 108,57 kg at 514,54 mkg. West Bengal has lost 41.04 mkg to 314.91 mkg to slide. In North India the full shortage occurred while in South India the number increased slightly. 

Rajesh Gupta also stated the fact that apart from the heavy downfall in the tea production in contrast to the same South India had produced a slightly higher amount in mkg of tea as compared to the 2019 Jan-Oct months. 

However, the modest development in North India was much insufficient to offset the loss.