Plantation Crops

Distribution of tea

World
Major tea growing area in the world (Nearly 93 % ) is in developing countries.
Asia = 86 % of area and
Africa =8 % of total area (during 1986 %)

Asia
India, China and Sri Lanka are the main tea producing countries in the world. India produces nearly 30 % of world tea production followed by China (22 %) and Sri Lanka (8%).
However China is having maximum area under tea in the world( over 40 % of world area) but the maximum production is from India mainly because of higher productivity ( 414 kg /ha in China compared to 1570 kg per ha in India during 1986)

Other countries:
Kenya ( 8 %) , Turkey, Indonesia, Japan, Mauritius, Bangla, USSR, Iran, Argentina, (Argentina at 27º S and Georgia (Southern part of USA) at 43º N

India:

In India 80 % of the area is above 50 ha in size and most of them are in corporate sector (United body)

North India = Nearly 80 per cent of total area in India,
South India = Nearly 20 % of total area in India

Distribution in India

Assam = 53 %


West Bengal = 24 %


Tamil Nadu = 13 %


Kerala = 8 %


Other states = 2 % (It is from Karnataka, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, UP, Bihar, Sikkim, Manipur)


Although Darjeeling produces the finest quality of tea, its productivity is low.

The average yield in Darjeeling (635 kg/ha in 1981) is reported to be less than half of the all India average.