Indian Tea Industry in Crisis!

Tea Leaves

North Bengal, India. 

It was predicted in the last month that the summer of 2024 would be extremely warm. The temperatures would go higher than 50 degree celsius in many parts of India, resulting in a dangerous heatwave. 

The effects of that heatwave on humans were discussed in extensive lengths but the effect of the heatwave on tea crops has already begun! resulting in the shortage of crop of approximate 30-40%!! 

That means that the price of tea has already started to rise again and with the summer only beginning, it can be expected that the cost of production would be twice. The first flush which has always been a delicacy and thus expensive, would be even more out of the budget for some. 

But the major impact of this can be seen because of lack of rain causing significant drying of crop. To reverse that some gardens have adopted artificial irrigation systems. Still, the quality of the tea can get affected which would also make it hard for the farmers to fetch good price for the goods. 

The teas from other states would definitely make it harder for the cultivators of North Bengal Tea industry to challenge the market if things stay the way they are. In the past many Nepalese tea gardens producing high quality teas have made their names and have come close to recreating the taste of Darjeeling. 

How do you feel about the Indian Tea Industry in Crisis?

-Akshay Vashisht