Download - Tea Industry in India - Overview
Introduction
• Tea origins – China (4th century AD).• 350 A.D. Kuo P’o’ – described tea as, “a
beverage made from boiled leaves.” • People - interior part of China pressed tea
into brick “currency” to barter with other tribes.
• From 350 to 600 A.D., the demand for tea dramatically increased and outstripped the supply of wild tea trees.
• Farmers began to grow tea plants in the Szechwan district – soon spread to whole China.
• Western world – tea introduced by Venetian writer Ramusio (16th century).
• 1st public sale of Tea – England - Thomas Garway in 1657.
Introduction of Tea to India and beginning of Tea trade
• In 1780 – Tea cultivation experimented in India with seeds from China by Robert Kyd.
• Robert Bruce(1823) – discovered wild tea plants growing in Upper Brahmaputra Valley.
• May 1838 – Tea from Assam sent to England for public sale for 1st time.
Tea in India
• Major 3 tea producing regions:
1. Darjeeling (North-Eastern India)
2. Assam (far North-East India)
3. Nilgiri (South India)
• All 3 differ in style and flavour.
Darjeeling
• Found in the foothills of Himalayas.
• Grows at altitudes of 600m to 2000m.
• Cool moist climate, rainfall and sloping hilly terrain – give the ‘Muscatel Flavor’ to the Tea.
• Called ‘Champagne of Teas’ – finest and most uniquely flavored.
Assam
• Rainfall - 100 to 150 inches per year.
• Offer rich, full-bodied, bright tea liquor.
• A bright, strong cup of tea.
• Assam is the single largest contiguous tea growing area in the world.
Nilgiri
• Blue Mountains of Nilgiri in South India.
• Tea grown at an elevation of 1000m to 2500m.
• Rainfall varies from 60 inches to 90 inches annually.
• Fine, elegant flavor and brisk liquor.
• The combination of fragrance and briskness makes Nilgiri a truly unique tea in the world.
Apart from the above three distinct tea growing regions tea is also grown in:
• Kerala• Karnataka• Himachal Pradesh • Uttaranchal• Sikkim • Orissa• Bihar
• Arunachal Pradesh • Tripura• Manipur• Nagaland• Mizoram &
Meghalaya • Dooars and Terai of
West Bengal
Indian Tea
• Tea Act,1953 - ‘Tea’ means the plant Camellia Sinensis (L) O. Kuntze.
• Tea leaves during manufacturing ‘Made Tea’ in factories generate ‘Tea waste’.
• Tea Waste – Unfit for human consumption and used for:
1. manufacture of caffeine.
2. manufacture of Instant Tea.
3. using as manure in the tea field.
Green and Black Tea
• Made tea or Tea manufactured from green tea leaves is generally classified into two types:
1. Black Tea
2. Green Tea
Black Tea
• Two types:
1. Orthodox Tea
2. CTC Tea
(Crushing, Tearing & Curling)
• Green tea is different from Black tea since fermentation of green leaves is arrested in manufacturing green tea.
• Again black tea is of two types viz. Orthodox tea and CTC tea.
• Orthodox teas are manufactured with the help of orthodox roller in the process of rolling.
• CTC machine/Rotervan is used in rolling process in manufacturing CTC teas. CTC stands for Crushing, Tearing & Curling.
• Most of the teas produced in Sri Lanka is of ‘orthodox’ variety.
• Kenya produces mainly CTC teas.
• The tea processing in any factory in the traditional way comprises the following phases:
1. Withering 2. Rolling 3. Fermentation 4. Drying 5. Sorting & Grading
Instant Tea
• “Instant tea”: is also being manufactured in India and in few other tea producing countries of the world like Kenya and Sri Lanka.
• The raw materials used for manufacturing Instant tea are green tea leaves and/or tea waste.
Tea Bags
• Tea, mainly the black tea is also being further processed to manufacture ‘tea bags’.
• “Filter papers” is being used as packaging material for manufacture of tea bags.
• Instant tea and Tea bags are generally known as ‘convenience tea’ since these are convenient for consumers to get the liquor with less hazards.
Quality of Tea
• The characteristic of the beverage like tea is determined by the major components of the leaf:
1. polyphenols,
2. the peptic substances,
3. the flavouring constituents and
4. caffeine.
• The caffeine is known for its stimulating effect.
• So quality means the summation of the desirable attributes comprising internal and external characters like:
1. aroma/flavour,
2. strength,
3. colour,
4. briskness and
5. character of infused leaf.
Primary Factors affecting Tea Quality
• The quality of ‘tea’ depends primarily on:
1. the nature and chemical composition of the plucked leaf
2. the type of bush,
3. the growing conditions and
4. the kind of plucked leaf like coarseness and fineness etc.
Secondary Factors affecting Tea Quality
• The factors affecting tea quality apart from those involved in processing can be distinguished in 3 groups viz. genetic, environmental and cultural.
(i) Tea quality is primarily determined by the genetic properties of the tea planting and those of the tea bush in particular.
(ii) Both soil and climate are influencing the quality of tea. Climatic condition including temperature, humidity, sunshine duration, rainfall are important in determining quality.
(iii) Field operation like pruning, fertilising, shading, plucking round and plucking standard are also playing the important role in determining the quality of tea.
Tea Definition• In order to prevent tea from any possible adulteration, the
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 is in existence. Tea therefore shall conform to the following specifications as indicated in
the PFA Act, 1954. a) Total ash determined on tea dried to a constant weight at 100° C
4.0 to 8.0 percent by weight
b) Total ash soluble in boiling distilled water
Not less than 40.0 percent of total ash
c) Ash insoluble in HCL Not more than 1.0 percent by weight on dry basis
d) Extract obtained by boiling dry tea (dried to constant weight at 100° C) with 100 parts of distilled water for one hour under reflux
Not less than 32.0 percent
e) Alkalinity of soluble ash Not less than 1.0 percent and not more than 2.2 percent expressed as K2O on dry basis
f) Crude fibre determined on tea dried to constant weight at 100° C
Not more than 17.0 percent
Note:- 1. It shall not contain any added colouring matter or added flavouring
matter.2. Provided that tea for export may contain added flavour under proper
label declaration.3. Provided further that the tea used in the manufacture of flavoured tea
shall conform to the standards of tea.
Tea Tasting
• The made tea of an estate, is tested by the commercial tasters (generally known as broker) for determining the quality and its value.
• Tea tasting is aimed at describing and evaluating teas in the form of individual grades or as blended product.
• The description and evaluation include the appearance of the dry tea, of the infused leaf and of the infusion obtained by brewing the tea with boiling water, the taste characteristics of the infusion, commonly called the liquor, etc.
• During tasting the various characteristics that make up a tea liquor viz. briskness, strength, colour, body, quality and aroma or flavour, are assessed individually.
Tea Grades• On the basis of the physical appearance of the made tea, different
grades are maintained. • The type of different grade and its description is indicated below : BLACK TEA GRADES [ORTHODOX TEA]
Kind of Tea Grade Name Nomenclature
Whole Leaf FP Flowery Pekoe
Broken FTGF OP Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
TG OP Tippy Golden Flowery
Orange Pekoe TGF OP 1 Tippy Golden Flowery
Orange Pekoe
GF OP Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
FOP Flowery Orange Pekoe
OP Orange Pekoe
Broken BOP 1 Broken Orange Pekoe one
GF BOP Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
BPS Broken Pekoe Souchong
GBOP Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
• These are just some of the grades and nomenclatures.
• Similar grading and nomenclature is done for all tea types.
Marketing of TeaPrimary marketing • Teas grown in the tea estates reaches to the
traders of either domestic or of importing countries.
• The tea planter has the following four options to dispose the output through sale:
i) Sales through Indian auction. ii) Sales through overseas auction by sending
teas on consignment basis. iii) Sales as ‘direct export’ to the importer of
importing countries. iv) ‘Ex-garden’ sales.
Secondary marketing (with reference to India)• Teas from the traders reaches to consumers of either
domestic or overseas.• Indian Traders who purchase tea through Indian
auctions or directly from the tea planters have the following options:
a) Export in bulk packages in original form and/or export in bulk packages in blended form.
b) Export after further processing as tea bags and/or packaging in consumer packs.
c) Sale to Wholesaler/Retailer in loose form to reach Indian consumers.
d) Sale to Wholesaler/Retailer in packet form after packaging in consumer packs to reach Indian consumers.
World Production
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Quantity (M.Kgs.)
China India SriLanka
Kenya
200420052006
World Production (2006)
China28%
India27%
Sri Lanka9%
Kenya9%
Turkey4%
Indonesia4%
Vietnam4%
Bangladesh2%
Malawi1%
Tanzania1%
Others11%
China
India
Sri Lanka
Kenya
Turkey
Indonesia
Vietnam
Bangladesh
Malawi
Tanzania
Others
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Quantity (M.Kgs.)
SriLanka
Kenya China India
2004
2005
2006
World Export
World Export (2006)
Sri Lanka19%
Kenya20%
China18%
India13%
Vietnam7%
Indonesia6%
Malawi3%
Others7%
Argentina4%
Zimbabwe1%Tanzania
2%
Sri Lanka
Kenya
ChinaIndia
Vietnam
Indonesia
Argentina
Malawi
TanzaniaZimbabwe
Others
Production of Tea in India
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
760
780
800
820
840
860
880
900
920
940
960
980
North India
South India
Total
Consumption of Tea in India
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
Years
Population(Millions)
DomesticConsumption(M. Kgs.)
Per CapitaConsumption(Grams perhead)
Tea Exports from India
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50
100
150
200
250
Quantity (M. Kgs.)
North South AllIndia
2004
2005
2006
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Country
Qu
an
tity
(M
.Kg
s.)
Countrywise Exports from India (2006)
Value v.s. Quantity of Exports from India
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Countries
Valu
e (
Rs.
Cr.
)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Qu
an
tity
(M
.Kg
s.)
Quantity
Value
Tea Board of India
• Tea falls under control of Union Government.
• Tea Board formed in 1903 through Tea Cess Bill.
• The present Tea Board set up under section 4 of the Tea Act 1953 was constituted on 1st April 1954.
Functions of Tea Board
a) Rendering financial and technical assistance for cultivation, manufacture and marketing of tea.
b) Export Promotionc) Aiding Research and Development activities for
augmentation of tea production and improvement of tea quality.
d) Extend financial assistance in a limited way to the plantation workers and their wards through labour welfare schemes.
e) To encourage and assist both financially and technically the unorganised small growers sector.
f) Collection and maintenance of Statistical data and publication
a) Such other activities as are assigned from time to time by the Central Government.
Organisation of the Board
• The present Tea Board is functioning as a statutory body of the Central Government under the Ministry of Commerce.
• The Board is constituted of 31 members (including Chairman) drawn from Members of Parliament, tea producers, tea traders, tea brokers, consumers, and representatives of Governments from the principal tea producing states, and trade unions .
• The Board is reconstituted every three years.
• The following are the standing committees of the Board :
(i) Executive Committee(ii) Export Promotion Committee(iii) Labour Welfare Committee and(iv) Development Committee.
(a) Offices in India: With Head Office located in Kolkata, West Bengal it has fifteen offices which include Zonal, Regional and Sub-Regional Offices located at the following cities/towns :
Coonoor Guwahati New Delhi
Siliguri Mumbai Cochin
Chennai Silchar Kottayam
Agartala Jorhat Tezpur
Kurseong Palampur Almora
b) Foreign Offices: Currently Tea Board has three overseas offices located at London, Dubai, and Moscow. (The fourth and fifth office at Hamburg and New York was recently closed down).
SPECIAL PURPOSE TEA FUND SCHEME (SPTF)
• The most important factor afflicting the Indian Tea Industry is the ageing of tea bushes, leading to declining quality and productivity.
• Cost of production of Indian Tea is the highest among major tea exporting countries.
• Special Purpose Tea Fund - for extending financial support to the needy tea estates for undertaking replanting, replacement planting and rejuvenation of old aged tea bushes.
Objective of SPTF
• To cover 2.12 lakh ha over a fifteen-year period.
• Government approval has been obtained for phase-I of the programme i.e. for activities to be completed till the end of the XI plan period (2007-12).
• Phase-I would be 85,044 ha comprising re-plantation on 68,154 ha @ 11,359 ha per annum and rejuvenation in 16,890 ha @ 2815 ha per annum.
• Government’s contribution towards the programme during the period has been fixed at Rs. 567.10 crore (capital infusion of Rs. 91 crores to the SPTF and subsidy of Rs. 476.10 crore equivalent to 25% of the projected project expenditure of Rs. 1904.40 crore).
• 75% of the assessed unit cost of replanting/replacement planting/rejuvenation pruning and consolidation would be provided to tea gardens by way of term loan (50%) and subsidy (25%). The borrowers are required to bear the balance 25% of the cost.
‘Thank You’
