Kolkata, Aug 6 (IANS) The Tea Board of India does not expect any tea production growth in 2010 due to erratic rains in the hills of northeastern India leading to crop loss, its chairman Basudeb Banerjee said Friday.
He said the crop loss in the hills of Assam and West Bengal would be made up to some extent by excess production in the southern region. Last year, the total production was 979 million kilograms (mn kg).
‘On a conservative estimate, we can say that this year’s crop won’t be more than last year’s level,’ Banerjee said.
The erratic monsoon has brought back tea mosquito, which has destroyed gardens at several places in Assam.
‘Recovery in terms of getting back lost crop will be slow as there was less use of pesticide during the first flush season as the crop was meant for export,’ Rossell Tea managing director C.S. Bedi said.
During May, Assam and West Bengal witnessed 3 mn kg drop in crop and the situation worsened in June with production falling 13 mn kg in Assam and 2 mn kg in West Bengal. The overall decline is over 15 mn kg in northeast India.
