Assam tea industry stares at Rs 1,218 crore loss

Prabin Kalita | TNN | Updated: Apr 16, 2020, 14:05 IST

Picture used for representational purpose only

GUWAHATI: Assam's tea industry is staring at a loss of around Rs 1,218 crore even as actual production resumed with plucking of tea leaves after 23 days on Wednesday. According to planters, almost the entire crop of month of March, which is estimated to be about 30 million kilograms, is lost and another 50 million kilograms of tea is estimated to be lost in April and May.
North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) adviser Bidyananda Barkakoty said as per the Tea Board of India official figures, the annual average price of tea of North India (which includes Assam) at the Indian auctions in 2019 was Rs.152.26 per kg. "Therefore, taking the last year's price, the total revenue loss of Assam tea industry due to lockdown is estimated to be Rs 1,218 crore," he added.
Explaining the losses, he said, "Tea plantation in Assam is seasonal. After an unproductive off-season gap of almost three months, the new tea season had barely started around the second week of March when the state government imposed a lockdown on March 22 to contain the spread of coronavirus. Therefore, we have lost almost the entire crop of March, which is estimated to be about 30 million kilograms." He added, "Due to prolonged lockdown, about 35% of our plantations will have to be skiffed (removal of overgrown tea leaves). Skiffing operations will add to extra costs and the bushes will require two to three weeks for recovery so that they can be plucked again. Due to this skiffing operation, there will be crop losses in April and May as well."
Last year, 6.3% of the annual crop was harvested in April. "Considering that plucking operations will start only from April 15 and taking into account the crop loss due to skiffing, we estimate that 30 million kilograms of tea will be lost in April. Moreover, the skiffed areas would continue to lose crop in May until it full recovers. In 2019, 9.3% of the annual crop was plucked in May but we estimate that we will lose around 20 million kilograms this year. Therefore, the total estimated crop loss of Assam tea industry due to lockdown is about 80 million kilograms," said Barkakoty.
Seeking bailout measures to mitigate the revenue loss, he added, "There is no tradition of laying off workers in Assam's 197-year-old tea industry. In view of the revenue losses of the ailing tea industry, we solicit the government's kind consideration in evolving measures to mitigate this loss."
The tea industry is highly-labour intensive and is one of the largest employers in the organised sector of our country. About 50% of the total workforce of this sector are women.