Tea plantation workers in a fix as production takes a beating

“Tea plantations spread over 1,500 hectares, which is roughly ten per cent of the total area under cultivation in the Nilgiris district, are affected due to the frost. The yield of tea leaves will be hit for three months till March,” said Radhakrishnan, Director, The United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI). Around 45,000 hectares in the Nilgiris and 12,500 hectares in Valparai are under tea cultivation. But, the current scenario has rendered many labourers, who earn a living by plucking tea leaves in the sprawling estates, jobless.

“Unlike the Nilgiris, Valparai is not situated in a high altitude. However, the growth of tea leaves has been stunted in Valparai, which has witnessed a significant drop in temperature,” said a senior manager of a private tea estate.

“The yield of tea leaves has almost halved from 750 kg per acre during the peak harvest season soon after the monsoon months to a meagre 350 kg now,” said B Venugopal, founder of Nilgiris Small Scale Tea Growers Awareness Centre.

If the weather forecast is anything to go by, the minimum temperature may go down further, giving no respite for tea plantation owners until the month end.

“There may be a further dip in temperature in the coming days. It might reach even sub-zero levels,” said S Panneerselvam, professor and head ofAgro Climate Research Centre at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU).

The intensity of the frost may further increase due to the cold wave conditions prevailing in northIndia. “The minimum temperature in Valparai, which ranges between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius, too would go down in the coming days,” he added.