Wed Oct 08 10:12:28 UTC 2025: **Summary:**

Climate change is severely impacting Assam’s tea industry, leading to reduced harvests, increased production costs, and declining exports. Erratic rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and pest infestations are shrinking yields, forcing estates to invest in irrigation and pest control. Rising domestic consumption further limits export potential, potentially driving up global tea prices. Government incentives are insufficient to address the aging tea bushes and encourage replanting, threatening the long-term viability of the industry.

**News Article:**

**Climate Change Brews Trouble for Assam Tea, Threatening Global Supply**

**Guwahati, India** – India’s renowned Assam tea industry is facing a crisis as climate change takes its toll on harvests, production costs, and exports. Erratic weather patterns, including prolonged droughts, intense rainfall, and rising temperatures, are crippling tea plantations in the region, impacting the global tea trade estimated at over $10 billion annually.

“Shifts in temperature and rainfall patterns are no longer occasional anomalies; they are the new normal,” said Rupanjali Deb Baruah, a scientist at the Tea Research Association, highlighting the severity of the situation.

Tea workers like Kamini Kurmi are struggling under increasingly harsh conditions, facing heatstroke and exhaustion while trying to harvest the delicate tea leaves. The irregular weather is also promoting pest infestations, damaging crops and forcing estate owners to implement costly irrigation and pest control measures.

The challenges in Assam, coupled with stagnant output in other major tea-producing regions like Kenya and Sri Lanka, could drive up global tea prices. India’s tea exports, which accounted for 12% of global trade last year, are expected to decline further as domestic consumption rises.

“Rainfall has dropped by more than 250mm (10 inches) between 1921 and 2024, while minimum temperatures have risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit),” said the Tea Research Association.

Planters are calling for increased government support to encourage replanting of aging tea bushes, which are becoming less productive and more vulnerable to the changing climate. Without significant intervention, the Assam tea industry, which has thrived for nearly 200 years, faces an uncertain future. The shrinking exports, coupled with rising imports, could lead to higher costs for overseas consumers and reshape the global tea industry.

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