Tea Production in 2009: Shortage Due to drought

Sri Lanka, India and Kenya are among the top major tea producing countries. They make sure that people in the world can have good and refreshing cups of tea every day. Unfortunately, in 2009, these 3 countries suffered from drought. So, it is perhaps natural that tea production will suffer a lot this year. There is fear that even 10% shortage of production can happen.

Bloomberg reported:

India, Kenya and Sri Lanka together account for more than 50 percent of global tea exports. India’s tea output this year may drop 20 million kilograms from last year’s 980.8 million kilograms, Khaitan said.

India’s tea production in the seven months to July dropped 3.3 percent to 461 million kilograms after the weakest monsoon in at least seven years caused a drought in 278 of India’s 626 districts this year. That may create a deficit of 50 million kilograms next year, Khaitan said.

“Drought is only one reason for prices to take off,” he said. “Years of neglect because of stagnant prices took a toll on production over the years.”

Against natural disasters like drought, human beings are helpless. So, the governments of these 3 countries should help the tea producers and workers.

Ceylon Tea to attract Chinese People

Sri Lanka is the leading exporter of tea and it is one of the main foreign exchange earners for the country. Sri Lanka has been badly hit by the ongoing civil war and it is obvious that it hurts the economy badly. So, the government has to maneuver with limited number of products for the economic development and tea is always high on its agenda. Sri Lanka Tea Board is always exploring for new markets and one of the potential markets is China. Due to continuous high economic growth for the last two decades, China is an attractive market for any product.

China is the largest producer of tea in the world but it also has a population of over 1 billion people. So, there is always room for high quality tea in the country. Ceylon tea is considered to be one the best quality of tea varieties. That is why, Sri Lanka Tea Board is now encouraging tea producers of Sri Lanka to actively pursue the Chinese market. International Tea Fair will take place in Hong Kong in August 2009 and Sri Lanka Tea Board has urged the tea companies of the country to try to take part on it. Let us see if it can bring any good news for Sri Lanka tea industry.

Related Articles

Daily Mirror

Xinhua

(This entry was originally published in March 2009.)