Guwahati: Market factors and vagaries of climate endangering the tea industry's viability. According to P.K. Bhattacharjee, Secretary-General of the Tea Association of India, the twin issues of market forces and regression caused by harsh weather are putting the industry's position in jeopardy for the current season.

The tea industry in North East India, which includes Assam and North Bengal, accounts for over 81 percent of total production in the nation.

"This region has been pounded by nature's fury, which has seen catastrophic rains and flood situations the likes of which have not been seen in recent decades," Bhattacharjee said.

The harvest has been harmed to the point that Assam and Cachar face 11% and 16% drops, respectively, while Dooars and Terai face 21% and 19% drops, respectively, for the month of June 2022, compared to the same time the previous year.

"The industry has recently been damaged by an Rs.30/- per day pay increase in North Bengal, and a salary increase in Assam cannot be ruled out," Bhattacharjee adds.

The decrease in output is due to a 1.5-degree Celsius decrease in average maximum temperature in June 2022, which resulted in fewer average sunlight hours, to the point that certain places had no sunshine 11 days out of 30 in June 2022.

"Such a lower temperature expanded the diurnal temperature differences in June 2022 as compared to June 2021," he explained.

He stated that CTC Tea prices fell by 15% in the month of May in the districts of Brahmaputra Valley, Barak Valley, Dooars, and Terai.