[ad_1]
India’s tea harvest is at risk because Covid-19 infections have spread to plantations struggling with a severe drought.
Ninety tea gardens in Assam, India’s leading tea producers, have reported cases and numerous declared containment sites, according to the local tea association, as authorities are trying to spread the virus to more than 800 plantations in the state.
About 500 cases have been confirmed but the plants say more studies are needed to detect the true magnitude of the outbreak.
India is the world’s second largest producer after China, and competes in the export market with countries like Kenya and Sri Lanka.
Producers warn that if left unchecked, outbreaks could worsen the harvest season and raise prices.
“Last year, tea gardens were miraculously saved,” said Prabhat Bezboruah, chairman of India’s Tea Board. “This time… The fronts are uneasy.”
Appearances in tea plantations highlight the reach of India’s second wave that has not touched any corner of the country. Coronavirus has spread to remote areas after taking a a destructive human toll in cities and disrupting industry and economic activity.
On Saturday, India reported 326,000 new Covid-19 cases and more than 3,800 deaths the previous day. Experts believe the figures are small.
Assam and neighboring West Bengal, home to the famous Darjeeling tea production center, are each reporting their own rise. Both states recently celebrated local elections public health experts say they have caused the infection.
Working groups in the case complain about what they call the strict working conditions of tea plantations.
Residences “are densely populated. Workers work in large groups or move around, so the possibility of a rapid increase in the number of infections is very worrying, ”Dhiraj Gowala, president of the Assam Tea Tribes Students Association, wrote in a letter to the local government.
India’s tea industry is already weakened from the unfavorable weather patterns associated with climate change to last year’s closure, which led to the harvest. to stop for several weeks.
This lost production helped India’s prices break last year’s records, giving Kenya and Sri Lanka an advantage in the export market.
Ibi Idoniboye, an analyst at product data company Mintec, said the recent disruption to plantations in India could lead to another opening for producers like Sri Lanka to sell more to large consumers like Russia.
Producers are worried about another lost year. The threat of coronavirus is exacerbated by a severe drought in Assam and northeastern India, which has left tea leaves withered in the bushes.
“You put your hand on the ground and you just pick up the dust. Usually there is mud and mud at this time, ”said Nazrana Ahmed, who runs a plantation near the city of Dibrugarh in Assam.
According to tea trader Van Rees, production in northern India in 47m kg in March was higher than last year, but is still just short of the 60m kg received in March 2019 (the last “normal”).
According to Mintec, in Kolkata, the main export site, tea auction prices rose by more than 40 per cent to 287.5 rupees per kg in April.
Vivek Goenka, president of the Indian Tea Association, said authorities are setting up vaccination camps to inoculate plantation workers, but they are struggling to get a shot at a very tough nation. shortage of jabs.
“Hopefully we will be able to sustain the situation,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s going to go away overnight. . . How quickly and immediately we control what we really control. “
[ad_2]
Source link
