The euphoria of higher tea production in India reached in March was short-lived because in April, both North India and South India produced a lesser volume than in April 2017. Consequently, the country’s production has gone back to the situation seen in the first two months of this calendar – the output lagging behind last year.

“The Tea Board has now released the data for April as per which, the country produced 85.74 million kg (mkg) against 92.41 mkg in April 2017, marking a decrease of 6.67 mg or 7.22 per cent”, Rajesh Gupta, compiler of annual Global Tea Digest, told Business Line .

Unlike March when North India posted a higher output, in April, its production suffered due to adverse weather conditions in many tea growing pockets.

In April, North India produced 63.28 mkg against 65.86 mkg in April 2017, marking a decrease of 2.58 mkg or 3.92 per cent.

South India continued to produce a lower output as in previous months due to adverse weather conditions. In April, it produced 22.46 mkg against 26.55 mkg, marking a loss of 4.09 mkg or 15.40 per cent.

“Our compilation shows that in the first four months, India produced 177.94 mkg against 181.32 mkg in Jan-Apr 2017, marking a decrease of 3.38 mkg or 1.86 per cent”, Rajesh Gupta said.

Helped by better production in previous months, North India was able to post a higher cumulative output in the four months even as South India was lagging behind 2017.

North India’s cumulative output in the four months rose to 117.14 mkg from 115.43 mkg, posting a gain of 1.71 mkg or 1.48 per cent.

However, this increase was not enough to offset the loss of 5.09 mkg or 7.72 per cent in South India where the output in the first four months dropped to 60.80 mkg from 65.89 mkg in Jan-Apr 2017.