Tea production was below the normal level in the Nilgiris in the first four months of current calendar going by the five-year mean.

The tea companies produced 4.09 mkg against 4.91 mkg in the corresponding period last year, marking a decline of 16.71 per cent.

The five-year average for this period was 4.50 mkg which means, the output this year was 9.11 per cent less than the normal.

Tea companies have reported to the Tea Board that their production in April dropped to 1.56 million kg (mkg) from 1.92 mkg in April 2017, marking a decline of as much as 18.75 per cent.

There was, however, an improvement in production when compared to normal levels for April. The five-year mean production for April was 1.54 mkg, an increase of 13 per cent.

Adverse weather is said to be the cause for this crop loss. Besides the lack of rains, there were huge losses due to frost-bite in the opening months of the year.