The world’s second largest tea producer behind China, India is experiencing a tea production crisis of serious magnitude. This challenge jeopardizes its reputation as a leading global market. Extended dry spells and unpredictable monsoons have severely impacted tea production throughout the country. The northeastern state of Assam, known for its sprawling tea gardens, has felt the acute impacts of increasingly warmer temperatures.
The tea industry in India—the world’s largest exporter— is experiencing its gravest production crisis in decades. These challenges result from the direct impacts of climate change, which have become alarmingly clear. Besides affecting tea production, the unexpected weather shifts have killed off young tea leaves on Assam’s tea gardens. Tea garden workers are suffering extreme economic distress. The yields that are declining and economic impacts of this ongoing crisis are having a devastating impact on their livelihoods.
India’s domestic demand for tea is booming, in sync with the demand for Indian tea on world-export markets. For this delicate balance to continue, the ongoing production bottlenecks must not be allowed to upend it. Insiders fear that India might find it hard to maintain its rank as the world’s second-largest tea producer. Taken together, if these trends persist, the effects will be profound. Shifting climate norms—like increasing temperatures and erratic patterns of rainfall—are upending the industry as well. Consequently, industry stakeholders need to find innovative ways to pivot and succeed in this changed landscape.
Indeed, tea is the second most consumed drink in the world after water. A huge portion of this international consumption comes directly from India. These underlying, tenuous conditions in India’s tea market take a hefty toll on local farmers and workers. It puts at risk a significant portion of international trade flows. Especially in an industry as sensitive to weather conditions as tea, many analysts anticipate climate change will soon shift the landscape of tea production and distribution.
With climate change exacerbating the already erratic weather, the Indian tea industry needs to be prepared for future developments. This adaptation can take the form of switching to more resilient plant varieties, diversifying cultivation practices, and ensuring smarter water management systems are in place.