Tea

Introduction

India is the largest producer and consumer of tea in the world. India also leads in global R&D in tea industry. India is the largest manufacturer and exporter of tea machinery. Other major tea producers (also developing nations) source equipment and technology from India. The tea plantations were started in the middle of the 19th century under the British management. The farm ownership, however, is fragmented. The annual tea leaf production has been around 800mn kg for the last 2 years.

Production area

Tea plantations in India are concentrated in the North- East i. e. Upper Assam, West Bengal. In the South, regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu produce tea. The North- Eastern region with 82% of area accounts for 76% of total tea production. In the North East, the yield is lower but quality of tea leaf is superior. The foothills of Darjeeling stretching along the Bhutan border up to the Assam border and the areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh have abundant tea plantations.

Growth promotional activities

The Government has set a target of 1bn kg of production by 2003. This would require additional land of 50,000 hectares and re- plantation of 200,000 hectares. Also, setting up of special agriculture zones and procuring latest technology for tea production are some of the measures to be taken by the Indian government.

Types

Darjeeling tea, Assam tea, flavored tea, green tea, Nilgiri tea, whole leaf tea, broken tea, fanning and dust, leaf tea, granular tea.

Dust tea is very popular in the south. In the western states, good quality loose flavored tea is preferred in Gujarat, whereas in Maharashtra, consumers provide a large market to packet as well as unbranded tea. The eastern states of West Bengal and Orissa consume CTC broken. Among the northern states, CTC fanning is liked in Rajasthan and CTC’s broken in others states of the North. The Central India is predominantly a dust market.

Other Tea Producing Nations:

China - Read about Chinese Tea