The Tea Board of India on Friday announced the last dates of production of tea in four tea-producing states of the country.

The board has been announcing such dates to prevent the production of low-quality teas during the winter months, that is, in the lean season when tea leaves stop growing.

Again, at the beginning of every year, the board announces dates from which teas can be picked and processed.

According to the order issued by the deputy chairman of the tea board, it has been mentioned that in the Dooars and the Terai, the picking of tea leaves should stop by December 23 and the processing or production in the factory by December 26.

“The tea gardens have to inform the board about the closure of the production process by December 27 while teas should be dispatched to storages (warehouses) by January 6 (for CTC variety) and January 11 (for orthodox and green teas),” said a source.

In a similar manner, tea leaves can be picked in the gardens of Darjeeling hills, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand till December 11.

“By December 13, they should finish processing at the factories and the board should be informed by December 14. Teas produced in these areas should reach storages by December 26,” the source added.

The announcement of dates has brought some relief for them, opined small tea growers based in north Bengal.

“Earlier, we had pointed out to the board that the growers have suffered losses in the current year due to inclement weather and lower price realization. Now, they can sell their tea leaves till the third week of December and can recover some portion of the losses,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, president, Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers.