Surge in organic tea production in northern India

Monday, 20 July 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Organic tea production in Nainital district of India’s northern Uttarakhand state has notably increased, following a surge in demand for tea in domestic and international markets.

The Tea Development Board in Uttarakhand state started organic tea garden in 1995 and a total of 95 hectares are engaged in organic tea production.

Manager of organic tea garden, Naveen Pandey, said that the production of organic tea has been witnessing a 10% increase every year.

“Presently tea produced in the Ghorakhal area is exported in Germany, Korea, Japan and other countries. Also with the help of our outlets many tourists are also buying tea,” said Pandey.

The topographic terrain of Ghorakhal area of the state, which is about 1,800 metres above the sea level, serves ample conditions for tea plantation.

Deputy Director of Uttarakhand State Tea Development Board Dr. K R Joshi said that at present three factories were producing organic tea to meet the high demand and plans were underway to further expand the production.

“We produce two types of tea, organic and inorganic. We produce 3,000 kilograms of organic tea and about 8,000 kilograms of inorganic tea. And especially this year the marketing has surged as demands are coming from various places,” said Joshi.

India is the world’s second largest tea producer but is less export-oriented than other producers, thanks to its big home market.