Darjeeling tea output sinks to record low in 2021

Production of Darjeeling tea, one of the most popular tea varieties globally, has shrunk to 6.5 million kg in 2021, the lowest on record and just half of the 13 million kg produced two decades ago.

Climate change, closure of gardens, high level of absenteeism among tea workers, losing export markets due to agitation in the hills in 2017 and little effort to promote the Darjeeling tea in the domestic market have led to the fall. Planters fear that if the government does not come up with a revival package, then Darjeeling tea, the flagbearer of the Indian tea industry, will get lost in history just like the teas from Himachal Pradesh's Palampur.