Tea companies in the Nilgiris, the largest tea growing district in the South, have reported to Tea Board that their production till July has fallen by about 28 per cent compared to the same period of last year.

In July, while the regions covered by the South-West monsoon received some rainfall, those covered by the North-East monsoon did not receive adequate rains to make good the dry conditions that prevailed in the first half of current calendar.

Consequently, tea companies have reported an output of 1.22 million kg (mkg) in July against 1.47 mkg in July 2015, marking a decline of 17 per cent. This has affected the production in the first seven months of current calendar.

Tea companies have reported to Tea Board that their production in the seven months of 2016 has fallen to 6.91 mkg from 9.53 mkg in the same months of 2015, marked 28 per cent fall. The five-year mean production for this period was also high at 8.89 mkg.

Prolonged dry weather, inadequate moisture due to low rainfall and heavy wind causing evaporation in tea leaves reduced the harvest of green leaves.

This pulled down the arrival of green leaves for processing in the factories and concomitantly brought down the production, tea companies have contended.

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