Tea bodies loud CM's budget speech

The joint forum of Assam Tea Planters Association (ATPA), North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) and Bharatiya Cha Parishad (BCP) welcomes the budget speech of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and appreciated the CM’s resolve during the ongoing budget session where he announced that the central government has been requested to declare 'tea' as the national drink and this would be vigorously followed up. This was stated in a joint statement issued by A.R. Kasera Chairman ATPA, Bidyananda Barkakoty Chairman NETA and Manoj Jalan Chairman BCP. Tea, which has been giving Assam a special identity, will give the state more prestige if it becomes the National Drink of the country and with the National Drink status to the beverage, its domestic consumption will increase and this will in turn give more confidence to the small tea growers, who are first generation entrepreneurs they added. The declaration of tea as the state Drink of Assam by Tarun Gogoi at the World Tea science congress at the Tocklai centenary celebration will remain as a red letter day for the Assam tea industry in particular and for the people of Assam in general and we hope a formal notification to this effect will follow very soon, they further added.

The forum also welcomed CM’s announcement in the budget to decrease the tax from 1% to 0.5% for sale of teas through Guwahati Tea Auction centre (GTAC) which will help in increasing the quantum of sale through GTAC. It is worth mentioning that Assam is the largest tea producing state of the country and it is also the place from where the march of the Indian tea industry started. Assam tea was one of lndia's first offerings to the world. Way back on May 8, 1838, 350 pounds of Assam tea was dispatched to London and sold at India House, London, on January 10, 1839. Since then, over the last 172 years, it is perhaps the only industry where India has retained its leadership. Tea industry is also one of the largest employers in the organized sector in India and significantly 50% of workers are women. India is the largest producer and largest consumer of black tea in the world. Symbolism apart the declaration of tea as the National Drink will be a good idea for bolstering the marketing of Indian tea.

Source: Assam Times

Assam tea output crosses 500 m kg

After three years, production of Assam tea has once again crossed the 500-million kg mark. The State has recorded a total production of 508.74 million kg for the year 2011. The figures for last three years were: 480.28 million kg in 2010, 499.99 million kg in 2009 and 487.49 million kg in 2008.

This is for the third time production of Assam tea has crossed the 500-million kg mark over the past 11 years. Total tea production in the country for 2011 is 988.32 million kg, which is the highest over the past 11 years.

North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) Chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty told The Hindu that the credit for the increase in Assam tea production goes to small growers. Production from small growers accounted for about 30 per cent of total production in the State, he said.

The jump in production of Assam tea was despite decrease of two million kg in the Brahmaputra Valley and a drop of three million kg in the Barak Valley in December, 2011, as compared to the corresponding month of 2010. “The decrease in tea production in December was due to less rainfall than required in October. If we had sufficient rainfall in October than we would have got a good pluck in November-December and the final production figure for 2011 would have touched about 513 million kg in Assam and India's total production too would have touched 1,000 million kg,” he said.

The NETA Chairman said that due to drop in November-December production, three weekly sales at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) had to be dropped in March. “We hope that this year we will have a good demand as there is no tea in the pipeline and there is no chance for carry forward.”

Mr. Barkakoty said the Tea Board statistics showed that Darjeeling recorded 9.7 million kg in 2011 as compared to 8.86 million kg in 2010, Dooars 143.23 million kg (144.56 million kg) and Terai 73.33 million kg (76.35 million kg) while total production in West Bengal 226.36 million kg in 2011 as against 229.78 million kg in 2010.

In 2011, Tamil Nadu recorded a total production of 167.22 million kg, Kerala 68.34 million kg and Karnataka 5.30 million kg.

The Brahmaputra Valley is the single largest tea growing area in the world. Out of the total area under tea in the Brahmaputra Valley, 31 per cent are owned by small growers. According to a survey by the Assam Government, there are 68,465 small tea gardens in 14 districts of the Brahmaputra Valley. Tea is grown in almost all the 27 districts of the State. There are 825 large tea gardens in the State. There are about 1.58 lakh small tea gardens (size below 10.12 hectares) in India, cultivating tea on around 1.62 lakh hectares and producing nearly 260 million kg annually at 440 bought leaf factories. which account for about 26 per cent of the total tea produced in India (according to Tea Board statistics), Mr. Barkakoty said.

Tea was declared as the ‘State Drink' of Assam by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on November 22 at the World Tea Science Congress held in upper Assam's Jorhat town on the occasion of 100 years celebration of Tocklai Experimental Station of the Tea Research Association.

Source: The Hindu

India Tea Production fails to reach 1 billion kg mark

Tea production increased 2.2 per cent in 2011 to a record but lower crop in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu prevented it from touching the magic one-billion-kg figure.

According to Tea Board data, production increased to 988.32 million kg (mkg) against 966.40 mkg the previous year. The previous record production was witnessed in 2007 when the production was 986.43 mkg.

WEST BENGAL

Output in West Bengal dropped to 226.36 million kg against 229.78 mkg a year ago, particularly with Terai region being a drag. Production in Terai dropped to 73.33 mkg against 76.35 mkg. Similarly, Dooars produced 143.23 mkg tea (144.56 mkg).

The West Bengal crop was hit by heavy rain during monsoon last year.

Darjeeling tea production increased to 9.7 mkg against 8.8 mkg a year ago.

Production in Assam increased over 28 mkg to 508.74 mkg with the Assam valley contributing an additional 31.93 mkg at 460.66 mkg (428.73 mkg). There was a 3 mkg drop in production in the Cachar region (40.97 mkg vs 51.55 mkg).

TAMIL NADU

In South India, production dropped by 2.4 mkg to 240.88 mkg (243.37 mkg) with the crop being over 3 mkg lower in Tamil Nadu. Kerala reported a better crop, while there was marginal fall in Karnataka.

Tamil Nadu's crop was hit initially by a dry spell in the early parts of 2011 and then by wet spells and frost in the latter part of the year.

The country had targeted a production of 1 billion kg by 2010 but poor crop management due to lower prices and weather combined to cause setback.

After touching a record 986.43 million kg in 2007, tea production dropped to 980.82 mkg in 2008 and further to 978 mkg in 2009 and 966.40 mkg in 2010.

Higher prices following lower crop in Kenya and Sri Lanka led to better prices in 2010. This, in turn, led to better crop management and higher production last year.

However, exports are estimated to have dropped by over 6 mkg in 2011 to 186.73 mkg (193.29 mkg) as Kenya and Sri Lanka made a strong comeback. Problems in exports to Iran and Iraq also contributed to the drop, last year.

Source: Business Line

Dolly's Tea selling Darjeeling Tea and Assams

No Indian city knows its cup of tea better than Calcutta. Understandable, given its proximity to Darjeeling, and its tea company culture. Take, for example, our tea-lover friend Gautam, who is extremely particular about his teas: in the afternoons he obviously has a fragrant Darjeeling (without milk and sugar, of course), but for a morning pick-me-up he prefers a sinewy Assam orthodox tea (with milk and sugar). And for monsoon days he recommends a robust Assam CTC. By way of explanation, he likens Darjeeling teas to Scotch, Assam orthodox teas to vodkas and CTC teas to rums. Dolly’s is for aficionados like him. It sells a selection of teas by the kilo, from a very basic Darjeeling Tea at Rs 450 per kg to Makaibari Silver Tips at Rs 12,000. But what’s interesting is that it’s one of those rare places that also serves these teas by the cup, allowing you to play the tea-taster and experiment with different varieties before you buy. It’s a tiny joint, with walls panelled with old tea chests, which squeezes in just about a dozen people. In the course of a leisurely tasting session, we tried a variety of Darjeelings: the sparkling Darjeeling Autumn, the smoky Makaibari Oolong, the wonderfully mellow Muscatel and the perhaps over-hyped Makaibari Silver Tips (it’s considered a sin to add milk and sugar to a Darjeeling, by the way). They also serve about thirty different types of iced tea, from orange-mint to watermelon. But those are just kid-stuff. Source: Outlook India

Tea-ing off at the national level

The Vattatharas were black coffee addicts. So were the other inhabitants of village Kongorpilly in Kerala's Ernakulam district. It was inevitable; almost everyone grew Arabica coffee beans in their backyard. That was 40 years ago when VM Thomas, head of Don Bosco Institute in Guwahati, left his village to pursue priesthood.His father, a schoolteacher, was confident that Thomas' missionary zeal would help take coffee to new frontiers. But, "I converted instead, from a hardcore coffee drinker to a regular tea drinker," said Thomas, 60.

Thomas' switchover is understandable. He has spent over 30 years in a state synonymous with tea - Assam. "But it beats me how almost everyone in my village has taken to tea," Thomas said.

For tea industry captains, barring the odd Nilgiri planter, Kongorpilly isn't likely to ring a bell. But the village's surrender to the cup that cheers - and of 593,730 other villages plus 4,378 urban areas across India (2001 census) - is one of several reasons behind their demand for granting national drink status to tea.

With over 83% households addicted to tea, the beverage is unofficially India's 'national drink'. The official tag, planters argue, would ensure better brand value and help promote it as a health drink, with or without (Darjeeling Tea, an asset of the Indian tea industry supposed to be best had without milk) milk and sugar (butter too, in some cases - in Darjeeling where the Tibetans are used to this custom). Most importantly, a national drink is an integral part of a nation's identity, self-image, history, ecology and culture, they assert.

Leading the crusade for the national drink status is the North East Tea Association (NETA), headquartered in the tea-rich Golaghat district of eastern Assam. "India should learn from Pakistan, which had ages ago identified sugarcane juice as its national drink. Or from tea-growing major China, where green tea is a national drink," said NETA chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty.

"New Delhi should at least learn from Britain that does not produce tea but considers the beverage, invariably sourced from India, a national drink. It is funny that India, despite producing the widest range of teas for 180 years, is yet to give it a special status," Barkakoty added.

Planters underscore the irony that even Assam - the state accounts for 50% of India's annual tea yield - never felt the need to declare tea as a state drink. In 2005, the state identified the rhino as its state animal and the white-winged wood duck as its state bird but went dry when it came to the drink.

"That's why we met chief minister Tarun Gogoi recently to impress upon the need to give tea the respect it deserves," said NETA member JK Singhania. "The state drink status can be the stepping stone to tea becoming India's national drink."

State industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi admitted the government faltered in not giving the due to a drink that has made Assam a household name in at least half the world. "We shall be according the state drink status to tea soon," he said.

Most of India swore by home-made alcoholic brews until the arrival of tea, 'discovered' growing wild in Assam by Robert Bruce. The Englishman took the credit for what the Singpho tribal people inhabiting adjoining areas of eastern Assam and western Arunachal Pradesh had been drinking for ages.

The first consignment of tea (350 pounds) was dispatched to Britain on 8 May 1838 and sold at India House, London, on 10 January 1839. Britons developed a taste for the beverage and voted out coffee procured from other colonies. It's time, tea growers and drinkers agree, India voted in tea as the country's national drink.

Source: Hindustan Times