Santanu Sanyal
Kolkata, June 24
An unprecedented pest attack has wreaked havoc with tea crops in Assam.
“The crop loss in May and June wiped out whatever growth achieved till April and the July crop too does not look promising,” Mr Aditya Khaitan, Managing Director of McLoed Russel, the world's number one producer of tea having the largest number of tea estates in Assam, told Business Line here on Thursday on his return from Assam.
Grave situation
“The situation is grave. We do not remember having seen pest attack on such a scale in recent times”.
Many tea growers, as it was pointed out, had pulled down the factory shutters due to poor crop availability. In some cases, a few gardens were pooling their crops together to keep one factory running. “It is really scary,” Mr Khaitan observed. “This is the season for second flush, the best crop, and we're terribly hit”.
combination of factors
A combination of factors is believed to have fuelled the pest attack. Incessant rain for past several weeks helped pest build-up in the gardens. The spraying to contain attack was not possible due to rains. Whatever little spraying was done was washed away. The recovery was slow because of the low soil and night temperature and inadequacy of sunlight.
Pesticides issue
There is another problem. The gardens growing tea for exports could use only a select few pesticides due to the stipulation of MRL (maximum residue limit) norms in the EU and other countries.
These “soft' pesticides were of little use in the present level of attacks.
Price impact
The damage to plantation, it is felt, will reduce supplies and push up the prices, more so because the loss suffered would not be recovered during the remainder of the season. Already, the prices at auctions are up by Rs 15-20 a kg. The cost of operation of the companies too will rise, it is felt.
Mr C.S. Bedi, Chairman of Tea Research Association, attributed the attack to a particular type of pest called, helopeltif thievora.
“In May, the infestation was mild but from the beginning of this month, it became virulent”, he said.
He could not exactly the extent of crop loss, which would be known only around July or so.
However, according to reports coming from different gardens, the production this month would be 40-50 per cent lower than that in the same period of last year, he added.
Social Plugin