Tea Board of India announces final dates for tea production in four states Subtitle: Growers to benefit from extended production period

The final dates for tea production in four of India's tea-producing states were revealed by the Tea Board of India on Friday.

To stop the manufacture of subpar teas during the winter, which is the lean season when tea leaves cease growing, the board has begun issuing such dates.

The board once again announces the dates from which teas can be collected and processed at the start of the year.

The Dooars and the Terai should stop gathering tea leaves by December 23 and the factory processing or production shall cease by December 26, according to the vice chairman of the tea board's order.

According to a source, the tea gardens must notify the board by December 27 that the production process will end, and the teas must be sent to storage facilities by January 6 (for CTC varieties) and January 11 (for orthodox and green teas).

Similar to this, until December 11 tea leaves can be plucked in the gardens of the Darjeeling Hills, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

"By December 13, they should complete processing at the factories, and by December 14, the board should be notified. By December 26, the teas produced in these regions should be in storage, the source continued.

According to independent tea growers in north Bengal, the release of the dates has provided some solace for them.

"Earlier, we had made it clear to the board that growers had lost money this year as a result of bad weather and decreased price realization. They can now recoup part of their losses by selling their tea leaves up until the third week of December, according to Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers President Bijoygopal Chakraborty.