India's Tea output at record high in 2016

India has created a new record in tea production in 2016.

India which has been posting higher production year after year, reached an all-time high of 1,239.15 million kg (mkg) in 2016.

The Tea Board has just now released production data for December 2016 as 62.74 mkg against 57.29 mkg in December 2015. This increase of 5.45 mkg marked a growth of 9.51 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta, compiler of the ‘Global Tea Digest 2016’, told'

This helped overall production remain higher than 2015, overcoming the shortfall in some months.

“The overall production in 2016 rose to 1,239.15 mkg from 1,208.66 mkg in 2015. This increase of 30.49 mkg marked a growth of 2.5 per cent,” Gupta noted.

The annual increase marks the highest in the recent past because, although production has been reaching new records year after year, the rise has been only marginal.

This is despite South India producing a lower volume in 2016 than in 2015 because of a significant increase in North Indian output.

North Indian production rose to 1,026.94 mkg from 981.09 mkg, marking a 5 per cent growth. Assam continued to top the Indian production table at 642.18 mkg (up 2 per cent), followed by West Bengal at 357.47 mkg (up 10 per cent). Darjeeling, however, posted a 7 per cent decline to 8.13 mkg.

South Indian output fell 7 per cent to 212.21 mkg from 227.57 mkg due to adverse weather for most of 2016. Tamil Nadu’s production dropped 11 per cent to 145.41 mkg from 163.09 mkg.