Tea production in the Nilgiris, the largest tea growing district in South India, has fallen compared to last year.
Tea companies in the district have informed the Tea Board that in September their production dropped to 1.23 million kg (mkg) from 1.49 mkg in the same period last year, marking a decline of 17.45 per cent.
This was also lower than the normal production level as measured by the five-year mean for the month which was 1.33 mkg, a shortfall of 9.77 per cent.
Collectively, in the first three quarters of the current year, the Nilgiris produced 11.79 mkg against 11.86 mkg during January-September 2017, marking a marginal decline of 0.59 per cent.
The cumulative production was, however, more than the normal output as measured by the five-year mean for the period which was 11 mkg, marking a gain of 7.18 per cent.