Summary:
The tea gardens in Assam and others states of Northeast are starring at huge losses after the Central government declared 21-day countrywide lockdown due to the global outbreak of deadly coronavirus. More than 850 big tea estates and thousands of small gardens in the region have remained closed due to the lockdown. Tea garden owners, economists and others predict huge losses due to the closure of the tea estates and related trades in the economically feeble northeastern region. “Considering the scanty rainfall in the current season, it is also required to continue irrigation in tea gardens as necessary,” the ITA said. Assam has 765 big tea gardens and over 1.20 lakh small tea growers engaging around 6.77 lakh workers in this organised industry..