India’s tea state battles with rising temperatures due to climate change

Since British colonists first shipped tea from their eastern counterparts, India has been at the forefront of tea production. However, as the global temperature rises it has started to affect tea quality and production in the most famous of tea regions, Assam.

Researchers and tea planters are worried that the rise in temperatures and the change in rainfall patterns is affecting the production and quality of Assam tea.

There are 850 tea gardens in Assam, producing 55 per cent of India's tea; however crop yields have dramatically decreased in the last five years.

Production in the state fell from 540,000 tonnes in 2007 to 487,000 tonnes in 2009, and the crop was estimated to have fallen to 460,000 tonnes in 2010, according to the Assam Branch Indian Tea Association.

Mridul Hazarika, Director of the Association said he is convinced that the reduction in crop yield is due to climate change and added that it is not just temperature rise that is affecting tea gardens.

"We have observed that minimum temperature has risen by two degrees centigrade and there is a reduction in the rainfall in the last 90 years by around 200 millimetres. And this is very important, very significant from the point of tea as a plantation crop." said Hazarika.

Scientists have said that temperature and rainfall change will affect the ability of the tea bush to grow, and although it will adapt to the change in environment, there will first be a time when the quality of Assam tea decreases.

The temperature rise has also affected the dormancy period of the plant. Pabhat Bezboruah, a tea planter based in Jorhat, Assam, said that 10 years ago winter temperatures dropped to around four or five degrees, however in recent years the temperature in winter has not dropped below nine degrees.

Bezboruah said: "We're used to seeing everything shut down. Now what's happening is we're not getting enough dormancy. There is still some leaf on the bush."

Hazarika is worried that these weather extremes the plants are experiencing will cause them stress, potentially affecting their production abilities. He continued to say that he is worried that the humid conditions will cause an explosion of insects. Due to environmental concerns, tea planters are unable to use pesticides on their plants.

Planters are optimistic that the sturdy tea bush will adapt, but they are looking at ways to combat the impact of climate change.

Arijit Raha is an official with the Indian Tea Association, based in Kolkata. "The industry has been looking at irrigation as an option, but tea plantations are huge, irrigating 100 percent is a very expensive proposition," Raha said. "One is also looking at other options, drought-resistant plants but those are things which will come in the future."

Planters and researchers are beginning to worry that the environmental changes are also going to affect the tea's infamous strong taste.

Author: Charity Knight | Climate Action

Image: Akarsh Simha | flickr