Plucking of tea leaves in tea estates and small tea plantations in the Dooars and the Terai tea belts will commence on February 12 this year.
In Darjeeling and Sikkim, it will start on March 1.
The Tea Board of India, which announces the dates for the closure of tea plucking and production and the start of plucking for each season over the past few years, has issued a notification on January 24 with the dates for this season.
The board takes up initiative to prevent the production of poor quality teas during winter when fresh leaves and buds stop growing.
“In the Dooars, the Terai and the neighbouring state of Bihar, tea leaves can be plucked and processed from February 12 this year. In Darjeeling and Sikkim, the same activity can be initiated from March 1. This is because new leaves and buds grow a few days later in the hills than in the plains,” said a source in the tea board.
For Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which are new tea-growing areas in the country, the date to start plucking is March 8.
In the notification issued by the deputy chairman of the tea board, it has been said that the dates have been finalised in consultation with stakeholders, scientists and experts.
“We welcome the decision as it will help in the production of quality tea. Also, talks are in progress to fix the closure dates this year. In our submission, we have requested the tea board to wait for some months, that is, till July or so when production reaches the peak, before finalising the closure dates,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the president of Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations.
At a meeting held earlier this month, some associations of tea planters said that production of teas should stop by November-end. Usually, production is allowed till the middle of December.
“If it is done, the annual production will be reduced by around 50 million kilos of tea. This will help in correcting the mismatch between demand and supply and can help the gardens get better prices,” said a tea planter based in Siliguri.
