Waiting for April

Siliguri, March 27: A few off and on showers in the past one week might help the April production, but planters said scanty rainfall during and after winter has hit hard the first flush of tea that was expected in early March.

Planters across the Dooars and Terai have, in comparison to last year, put the crop loss at 50-90 per cent.

“Gardens have suffered immense damage because of little or no rain in winter and the months after that,” said P.K. Bhattacharya, the secretary of the Dooars Branch of India Tea Association. “It has been an abysmal start to the new season with most of the gardens being able to churn out only about 30 per cent of what they had produced during the same time last year.”

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, rainfall from March 1-12 was only 12.23mm against the normal 17.8mm. During the week ending March 12, precipitation recorded was only 0.28 mm against the normal 11.6mm.

“Among the Terai gardens, those that are at the southern end (towards North Dinajpur) are the worst affected,” said K.K. Mintri, an advisory member of the Tea Association of India, Terai Indian Planters’ Association and the Siliguri Tea Auction Committee.

“In my garden, I have been able to produce only 5,000 kg tea this March, compared to the 50,000 kg last year,” Mintri said. “Added to the drought condition is pest attack.”

Haldibari Tea Estate in the Dooars is another example where scanty rain has hit the garden hard. “There was no rain in January and February,” said Raja Raha, the manager. “While last year, the rainfall recorded was 39mm, this time it was nil. Although the March rainfall in this part was better this time — 36mm so far compared to last year’s average of 18.75 mm — it was not of much help other than just wetting the arid earth.”

“Last year, we had produced 68,000 kg in March, this time the production is almost nil,” said Raha. “It is the worst situation we have faced in the past 20-25 years.”

While most planters have irrigation facilities in place, the set-ups did not help much for large scale watering because of mounting costs. “We have five irrigation units with which we are able to water only about 300 hectares of the 800 hectares,” Raha said. “With the facilities that we have, we have been able to just about keep our crop alive. Artificial irrigation is not enough for a good yield.”

Although the major bulk of tea production takes place in the second flush, the first flush of tea is looked forward to for a number of reasons. “In the Dooars, the first flush fetches better price than Assam tea,” said Raha.

However, despite the recent showers, planters are keeping their fingers crossed. “We hope the April production will improve because of the rain, but we can’t be sure till it happens,” said Mintri.