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Over the years, visiting quite a few tea gardens Finding Farm Workers for the Tea Gardens bonuses for the workers on tea farms, tea production is
allowed me to look at my cup of tea from a whole not the dreamy picture that the well-manicured bushes
different perspective – seeing it as more than just a Farm workers migrate in search of better wages on hill slopes showcase.
beverage but as a product of the tireless efforts of a and amenities to other farms and other regions. The
tea producer, through rain, through sun, through children of farm workers often receive their education Climate Change
everything. In recent times, I often encounter reports in schools inside tea plantations or in the villages and
of tea gardens coming up for sale and being bought migrate to urban areas to pursue further education Climate change remains one of the biggest challeng-
by entities from varying backgrounds, sometimes, not and better opportunities for their future. Finding es that producers often find themselves helpless against.
from the tea space; tea gardens being abandoned as workers to work on the farm can be a routine chal- Cold frosts, torrential downpours, and heat waves are
they are no longer viable, a portion or sometimes all lenge for tea producers, something despite the best becoming increasingly common, often forcing producers
of the tea bushes on the estate uprooted and the land of planning and forecasting can affect the productiv- to stop harvests and consequently, factory shutdowns till
planted with some other crop; homestays being built ity of the farm at times. the situation improves and harvest can resume. Extended
on tea gardens offering tourists a slice of what life on dry spells are also leading to water scarcity on the farms.
a tea garden could be like. These reports got me think- Increasing Costs Climate change has increased occurrences of large-scale
ing about digging deeper into the challenges that tea pest attacks and diseases in tea plantations. In India alone,
producers face and how they are innovating to over- While climate change is a global challenge for all the estimated annual crop loss due to pest attacks and
come them, powering through it all, saving the heri- farmers, low prices of green leaf tea are also posing a disease infections is 147 million kg, according to the Tea
tage that has stood the test of time and represents challenge for tea producers. Input costs and labor costs Research Association. Common pests in tea plantations
decades of history. have risen significantly, while the prices haven’t quite include thrips, leafhoppers, tea mosquito bugs, looper
kept up with the rise in costs. From holding hunger strikes caterpillars, aphids, mites, and more. depending on the
Mounting Challenges to demand prices to abandoning tea gardens unable to pay region and climatic conditions.

Like every industry, the tea sector also faces
several challenges to its long-term sustainability that
Photo / Fearless Tea, India
call for being creative & innovative to combat them.
“It is certainly a challenging time to be a tea grower,
probably a grower of most crops right now, consider-
ing the impact of climate change affecting yields,
increasing input costs, and unstable world geopolitics
affecting global supply chains,” says Aditya Shah,
Founder & CEO of Fearless Tea and VP of Jokai Tea
Estates, Assam, India. Assam celebrates 200 years of
tea this year. It is the world’s largest tea-producing
region, contributing 700 million kilos of tea annually,
according to Tea Biz Journal.

Climate change remains one

of the biggest challenges that
producers often find them-

selves helpless against.

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