Introduction
India is the largest producer and consumer of tea in the world. India
also leads in global R&D in tea industry. India is the largest
manufacturer and exporter of tea machinery. Other major tea producers
(also developing nations) source equipment and technology from India.
The tea plantations were started in the middle of the 19th century under
the British management. The farm ownership, however, is fragmented. The
annual
tea leaf production has been around 800mn kg for the last
2 years.
Production area
Tea plantations in India are concentrated in the North- East i. e.
Upper Assam, West Bengal. In the South, regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu
produce tea. The North- Eastern region with 82% of area accounts for 76%
of total tea production. In the North East, the yield is lower but
quality of
tea leaf is superior. The foothills of Darjeeling
stretching along the Bhutan border up to the Assam border and the areas
of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim and Uttar
Pradesh have abundant tea plantations.
Growth promotional activities
The Government has set a target of 1bn kg of production by 2003. This
would require additional land of 50,000 hectares and re- plantation of
200,000 hectares. Also, setting up of special agriculture zones and
procuring latest technology for tea production are some of the measures
to be taken by the Indian government.
Types
Darjeeling tea, Assam tea, flavored tea, green tea, Nilgiri tea, whole
leaf tea, broken tea, fanning and dust, leaf tea, granular tea.
Dust tea is very popular in the south. In the western states, good
quality loose
flavored tea is preferred in Gujarat, whereas in
Maharashtra, consumers provide a large market to packet as well as
unbranded tea. The eastern states of West Bengal and Orissa consume CTC
broken. Among the northern states, CTC fanning is liked in Rajasthan and
CTC’s broken in others states of the North. The Central India is
predominantly a dust market.
Other Tea Producing Nations:
China - Read
about Chinese Tea
