Tea production in the Nilgiris, the largest tea growing district in the South, has fallen by 12.68 per cent in the three quarters of current calendar compared to normal due to lockdown.

In September, favourable rainfall helped the crop to rise in the tea plantations in all the agro-climatic zones in The Nilgiris.

Tea plantations have reported to the Tea Board that their production in September rose to 1.62 million kg (mkg) from 1.56 mkg in September 2019, marking a gain of 3.85 per cent.

This was as much as 17.39 per cent more than the normal production of 1.38 mkg as measured by the five-year mean for the month.

However, because of lower production in earlier months due to lockdown and adverse weather conditions, the cumulative production in the three quarters dropped to 9.50 mkg from 9.66 mkg in Jan-Sept 2019. This meant a loss of 1.66 per cent.

The loss was as much as 12.68 per cent compared to the normal production of 10.88 mkg as measured by the five-year mean for the period.

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