February 04 (TSP Bangla) – A rain-deficient winter has triggered concern among tea planters in Darjeeling, who fear an adverse impact on the upcoming first flush crop. Plucking of the premium harvest is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks.
“We have had an absolutely dry winter this season. This condition is not favourable for first flush. The planters are extremely worried about the current weather conditions,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, the principal adviser to the Darjeeling Tea Association.
Data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that Darjeeling received just 0.2 mm of rainfall between January 1 and February 2, 2026, against a normal of 12.9 mm for the same period. This translates into a rainfall deficit of 98 per cent.
The situation is similar in neighbouring tea-growing districts. Alipurduar has recorded a rainfall deficit of 91 per cent, while Jalpaiguri has reported a 95 per cent shortfall.
In Darjeeling, first flush plucking typically begins in late February in the lower elevation gardens and continues until mid-April. The first flush is followed by the second, monsoon and autumn harvests. Among these, tea produced during the first flush fetches the highest prices at auction and is considered the most prized of the season.
With rainfall remaining far below normal levels, planters are closely monitoring weather conditions in the run-up to the harvest.
“The first flush accounts for 20 per cent of the annual production but around 30-35 per cent of the annual revenue,” said a source.
A DTA official said that tea planters were increasingly worried as production had been declining year after year, and the ongoing dry spell could further aggravate the situation.
“From a record annual high production of 14 million kilos (in the late 1970s and 1980s), the figure came down to around 5.5 million kilos of made Darjeeling Tea in 2025,” said Mukherjee, who added that climate change was also one of the factors towards low yield. Made tea refers to the tea made for consumption, not the green leaves plucked.
Most tea gardens in north Bengal are already grappling with financial stress. The absence of any significant relief package for the tea industry in the Union budget tabled in Parliament on February 1 had left many stakeholders disappointed. The prevailing dry weather has added to their concerns.
Weather experts said the dry winter in the upper reaches was largely due to the absence of an active western disturbance over the region and the lack of cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal.
Western disturbances are cyclonic systems that originate over the Mediterranean region and play a crucial role in bringing winter rain and snowfall to the Himalayas and parts of north India.
This winter, however, western disturbances have largely remained confined to the north-western Himalayan region, limiting precipitation in north Bengal, a weather expert said.
“The absence of cyclonic activity in Bay of Bengal which helps transport moisture to the region has also not helped,” an official added.
