Incoming rains in Bengal may bring cheer for tea industry

With the Met department forecasting rain and thunderstorm in north Bengal in the coming days following recent spells of showers, the tea industry is expecting production to be higher than the previous year when a drought had affected yield.

"This year, the weather is looking favourable as there has been some rainfall. However, it is too early to draw any conclusions," director in charge of tea at Andrew Yule and Co Ltd. Sunil Munshi told IANS.

He said tea is heavily dependant on rain and weather conditions, which affect both the quality and quantity of the yield.

"Tea needs optimal rainfall which is expected this year. Scarcity as well as prolonged spells harm the crop," he said.

From April 1 to 21, Darjeeling -- housing the prized tea producing estates -- received 12.95 mm of rain.

The world's largest tea producer McLeod Russel India Ltd. is also hoping for a better yield this year.

"There has been rainfall and further rains are predicted. This will definitely boost the production but the picture will become clearer July onwards," the company's director Kamal Baheti told IANS.

The company was one of the worst hit last year as it lost considerable output owing to sparse rains in Assam, where it has 50 gardens.

"If the rains are optimal, we expect our company's tea yields from India to touch 78 million kilograms," he said.

The Met department has forecast long spells of showers this week.

"Rains, along with thundershowers, are forecast in north Bengal and, after 48 hours, heavy rains are also forecast in some locations in north Bengal," an official of the regional Met office said.

For the six-month period from September 2014 to February this year, Darjeeling received a daily average rainfall of 0.41 mm while Dibrugarh in Assam which has numerous tea plantations received 0.47 mm of rainfall.