Dry weather hits southern Indian tea crop

29 April 1998

Dry weather hits southern Indian tea crop

TEA growers in Indias three southern states, which account for 25% of the countrys tea production, have been harvesting poor crops for the past month because of dry weather.

Sri Lanka has also started suffering a setback following last years bumper crops because it is in the same rain belt as India.

The Indian Tea Board has not yet fixed the production and export targets for the current year. But tea industry officials say the production target for 1998 will be 830 million kg to 840m kg compared with last years actual production of 810.6m kg.

A sustained campaign to bring new land under plantation has maintained production despite the adverse weather.

Industry officials say Indias tea exports in 1998 will rise by at least 17m kg to 220m kg.

• Financial Times 29/04/98 page 43