India's tea industry facing sustainability challenges: experts

India, the world's second largest tea producer, is facing sustainability challenges in four areas - agricultural issues, quality and safety, rising production costs and social issues, according to industry experts.
Speaking at the 5th Global Dubai Tea Forum 2014 (GDTF 2014) here, experts from 30 different tea producing and consuming countries laid emphasis on the need to "go back to nature" by restoring the environment in the best possible way to combat the sustainability challenges plaguing the tea industry.
During his presentation, Azam Monem, Director of Marketing McLeod Russell and Vice Chairman of the Indian Tea Association, said the sustainability challenges in India fall into four categories - agricultural issues, quality and safety, rising production costs, and social issues.

The measures discussed tended to "go back to nature" by restoring the environment in the best possible way through soil improvement, water and pest management, besides planting shade trees and complementary crops while moving forward in a constructive way by sharing science and experience.
"Presentations by high profile tea experts from China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey and Iran offered insights into their current production, market patterns and way forward to tackle the major challenges of ever rising production costs and the need to address environment issues," said Sanjeev Dutta, Director of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, which hosted the event last week.

Tea production was up 44 per cent between 2002 and 2012 and is more than twice as popular as coffee, but challenges lie ahead if the tea industry is to be sustainable.

"The industry also has to manage production costs to stop prices rising and potentially reducing consumption. Yet it is essential that the industry retains its workforce with competitive pay and if further mechanisation is introduced, training must be given to maintain quality levels," said Barbara Dufrene, LD, La Novelle Presse du The.
Compounding the situation, small independent tea farmers worldwide account for approximately 73 per cent of labour and around 60 per cent of the production and presenting the industry a challenge to accommodate any sustainable change.

"The tea industry needs to keep farmers fully engaged to cope with the threat of global warming and the increasingly erratic weather patterns while taking urgent steps towards improved GAP regulations," she said.
Some of the major consumer markets highlighted the main features of their domestic consumption, such as Russia expressing concerns about stagnation in tea consumption.
While China holds the distinction of being the world's top tea producer with a production of 1,640,310 metric tonnes, India is at second place with 966,733 metric tonnes.