Assam tea industry faces labor shortages due to climate and economic factors
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Assam’s tea industry, which produces approximately 52% of India’s tea, experienced labor shortages as workers sought alternative employment due to stagnant wages and inconsistent work. Factors such as extreme weather, including flooding and temperatures reaching 40°C, damaged over 50 tea estates and reduced crop yields by 87 kilograms per hectare for every 1°C increase in temperature. Industry stakeholders like Sanjiv Gogoi and representatives from the North Eastern Tea Association noted that rising production costs, specifically fertilizers and fuel, combined with low market prices, hindered the ability of estates to meet union demands for daily wages of 350 to 500 Rupees.
Consequences
The departure of experienced workers likely threatened both the productivity and the quality of tea production, as the industry relies heavily on manual, skilled leaf plucking. Small tea growers, who produce nearly half of the state's tea, faced intensified financial pressure due to a lack of bargaining power and a widening gap between production costs and market realization.
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