Tea

In the North Eastern region, tea is mostly grown in Assam and Tripura. In the recent years Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur has also started producing tea. Assam ’s economy is predominantly a tea economy. The state alone produces more than half of the all India production of tea. Tea in Assam is mostly grown in Assam valley and Cachar area. In 1999 the production of tea in Assam was 18439 thousand Kgs.

Wild tea grew in many parts of Assam reportedly at a time when the legendary origin of tea had been developing in China in around B.C.2737. The growth of an indigenous tea bush from which the Singpo Hill Tribes used to make a drink by the Burmese method (where the leaf is pickled) is reported as early as in 1815.

In 1823, Major Robert Bruce went on a trading expedition to Rangpur and found the native tea trees in nearby hills. Next year, the seeds were planted in Guwahati and in 1825 at Sadiya, subsequently tea was also discovered in Manipur. The first experimental plantations were established on the Garo hills in the then Assam in 1835.

The first tea good enough to be sent to Calcutta was made in 1836. Two years since then, enough tea was made for dispatch to England where it was awaited with great interest for its novelty. In 1839, the administration of the then Sibsagar and Lakhimpur area of Assam was taken over by the British Govt. The way was, thus, opened for private enterprise to continue the production of tea.

The world’s first Tea Company was formed on 12th February, 1839. Dwarakanath Tagore, grandfather of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, was one of its Directors. Here, mention may be made to the first attempt to compete with the Britishers, made by Maniram Dewan (who is regarded as the first Indian discoverer of indigenous tea plant in Assam).

Today, tea is grown in almost all parts of Assam. In the upper districts of the Brahmaputra Valley, one comes across miles & miles of planted tea without any break. The pretty sight looks as if covered with a green velvet carpet. The Barak Valley also has its own significant share in this sector. The most important feature in the growing commercial importance of the State has been the remarkable expansion of the tea industry since the early part of the 20th century. Assam tea has been contributing to India's Foreign Exchange earnings. Strange enough is the fact that Assam contributed nearly 74% of the total foreign exchange earnings of India in 1966.

Over the years, the North East (‘North’ in Tea parlance!) including the seven North Eastern States; Darjeeling Dooars, Terai and now, Sikkim, have been responsible for the production of nearly 77 % of Indian Tea, with Assam in itself producing more than a hefty 50 %. (Source: Latest Edition of "Tea File" of the Tea Board).

The state at present has 1196 registered tea estates. It is also important to know that the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre, established in 1970 is the third largest Auction Centre in the world, in terms of total tea sold. The harvest-index (status of economic yield to the total biomass production, usually expressed as per cent on dry matter basis) for tea is 7.5 per cent in North East India, according to a 1995 published source.

As we know, there are two distinct forms of tea viz. small leafed `China' bush and the large leafed `Assam' tea. Among the hybrids, we have China-Assam and the Cambodia-Assam. The Assam influence, in fact, increases the yield and the quality. In recent years, the use of high-yielding clones (vegetative propagation) has become popular as they maintain the quality, yield and other characters of the original parents.

At Tocklai Experimental Station in Assam, many vegetative clones have been evolved and tested. Clonal material is more widely used in conventional tea growing areas for replanting than seed cultivation. This Station was started in 1911, which is, in fact, the oldest & the largest research station of its kind in the world.

The more recent trend in Assam is a revolutionary concept of kitchen-garden plantation. Interestingly, this concept goes on such a popularity that the number of small gardens is about to touch a five-digit figure.

Source: Tea Board, Guwahati.

State-wise Production of Tea in N.E. Region, 2006-07:

(Figures in Thousand kgs.)

Source: Tea Board, Guwahati.

State wise Area under Tea in N.E. Region:

(Area in Hectare)

Source: Tea Board, Guwahati.

State wise Number of Tea Estates in N.E. Region:

(Area in Hectare)

Source: Tea Board, Guwahati.

State-wise Average Yield of Tea in N.E. States:

(Figures in Thousand kgs.)

Source: Tea Board, Guwahati.