Climatic Regions.2.Monsoon

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In this post : Tropical Monsoon Climate, Tropical Marine Climate and Tropical Monsoon
Forests.
Group A : Tropical Humid Climates

 Tropical humid climates exist between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.
 The sun being overhead throughout the year and the presence of Inter Tropical
Convergence Zone (INTCZ) make the climate hot and humid.
 Annual range of temperature is very low and annual rainfall is high.
 The tropical group is divided into three types, namely
1. Af- Tropical wet climate [Done in previous post];
2. Am - Tropical monsoon climate [This post];
3. Aw- Tropical wet and dry climate [Next Post].
Tropical Monsoon Climate

 Monsoons are land and sea breezes on a much larger scale.
 Unlike equatorial wet climate, monsoon climate is characterized by distinct wet and
dry seasons associated with seasonal reversal of winds.
 Floods in wet season and droughts in dry season are common.
 Usually there are three seasons namely summer, winter and rainy season.
Distribution of Tropical Monsoon Climate

 Occur within 5° to 30° N and S of the equator.
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 On-shore [sea to land] tropical monsoons occur in the summer and off-shore [land to
sea] dry monsoons in the winter.
 They are best developed in the Indian sub-continent, Burma, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia, parts of Vietnam and south China and northern Australia.
Climate
 The basic cause of monsoon climates is the difference in the rate of heating and
cooling of land and sea (This is old theory. New theory will be explained while
studying Indian Climate).
 In the summer, when the sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, a low pressure is
created in Central Asia.
 The seas, which warm up much slower, remain comparatively at high pressure. At
the same time, the southern hemisphere experiences winter, and a region of high
pressure is set up in the continental interior of Australia.
 Winds blow outwards as the South-East Monsoon, to Java, and after crossing the
equator are drawn towards the continental low pressure area reaching the Indian
sub-continent as the South-West Monsoon (Coriolis force).
 In the winter, conditions are reversed.
Temperature
 Monthly mean temperatures above 18 °C.
 Temperatures range from 30-45° C in summer. Mean summer temperature is about

30°C.
 In winters, temperature range is 15-30° C with mean temperature around 20-25° C.
Precipitation
 Annual mean rainfall ranges from 200-250 cm. In some regions it is around 350 cm.
 Places like Cherrapunji & Mawsynram receive an annual rainfall of about 1000 cm.
[They lie on the windward side of the Meghalaya hills, so the resulting orographic lift
(orographic rainfall) enhances precipitation. Also, they are located between
mountains which enhances cloud concentration due to funneling effect]
Seasons
 Seasons are chief characteristics of monsoon climate.
The cool, dry season (October to February)

 Out blowing dry winds, the North-East Monsoon, bring little or no rain to the Indian
sub-continent.
 However, a small amount of rain falls in Punjab from cyclonic sources (Western
Disturbances: Frontal precipitation brought by jet streams) and this is vital for the
survival of winter cereals.
 North-East Monsoons blowing over the Bay of Bengal acquires moisture and bring
rains to the south-eastern tip of the peninsula at this time of the year (Nov-Dec).
The hot dry season (March to mid-June)

 The temperature rises sharply with the sun’s northward shift to the Tropic of Cancer.
 Day temperatures of 35° C are usual in central India and the mean temperature in
Sind and south India may be as high as 44° C.
 Coastal districts are a little relieved by sea breezes. There is practically little rain.
[Hailstorms (thunderstorms with hail) occurs here and there]
The rainy season (mid-June to September)

 With the ‘burst’ of the South-West Monsoon in mid-June, torrential downpours
sweep across the country. Almost all the rain for the year falls within this rainy
season.
 This pattern of concentrated heavy rainfall in summer is a characteristic feature of
the Tropical Monsoon Climate.
The Retreating Monsoon

 The amount and frequency of rain decreases towards the end of the rainy season. It
retreats gradually southwards after mid-September until it leaves the continent
altogether.
 The skies are clear again and the cool, dry season returns in October, with the out
blowing North-East Monsoon.
The role of monsoons in India is vital for its economy.
Climate Graph
Tropical Marine Climate

 Outside the monsoon zone, the climate is modified by the influence of the on-shore
Trade Winds all the year round. This type of climate is called Tropical Marine
Climate. Such a climate has a more evenly distributed rainfall.
 Such a climate is experienced in Central America, West Indies, north-eastern
Australia, the Philippines, parts of East Africa, Madagascar, the Guinea Coast and
eastern Brazil.
 The rainfall is both orographic where the moist trades meet upland masses as in
eastern Brazil, and convectional due to intense heating during the day and in
summer.
 Its tendency is towards a summer maximum without any distinct dry period.
 Due to the steady influence of the trades, the Tropical Marine Climate is more
Favourable for habitation, but it is prone to severe tropical cyclones, hurricanes
or typhoons.
Tropical Monsoon Forests

Drought-deciduous forest; dry forest; dry-deciduous forest; tropical deciduous
forest.
 Broad-leaved hardwood trees. Well developed in southeast Asia.

 Trees are normally deciduous, because of the marked dry period, during which they
shed their leaves to withstand the drought [They shed their leaves to prevent loss
water through transpiration].
 The forests are more open and less luxuriant than the equatorial jungle and there
are far fewer species.
 Where the rainfall is heavy, e.g. in southern Burma, peninsular India, northern
Australia and coastal regions with a tropical marine climate, the resultant vegetation
is luxuriant.
 With a decrease in rainfall in summer, the forests thin out into thorny scrubland or
savanna with scattered trees and tall grass.
 In parts of the Indian sub-continent, rainfall is so deficient that semi-desert
conditions are found in summer. Monsoonal vegetation is thus most varied, ranging
from forests to thickets, and from savanna to scrubland.
Population and Economy in Monsoon Climate

 Monsoon climatic regions support high population density.
 Income levels are low as most of these regions are underdeveloped or developing.
 Subsistence farming is the main occupation. (crops grown with an intention to secure
food for the season. The crops are not sold as the production is very low).
 Intensive cultivation is common in regions with irrigational facilities.
 Shifting cultivation is followed in North-East India and South-East countries.
 Major crops include rice, sugar, cotton, jute, spices, etc..
 Cattle and sheep rearing is carried out for domestic and commercial purposes.
Livestock industry is not as profitable as in temperate regions.
Agricultural Development in the Monsoon Lands

 Much of the monsoon forest has been cleared for agriculture to support the very
dense population. Subsistence agriculture is the major occupation.
 Farms are small and the people are forever ‘land hungry.’ Industrialization make
things worse.
 Tropical agriculture dependent on natural rainfall and a large labour force, reaches
its greatest magnitude in the monsoon lands.
 Farming is the dominant occupation of the Indian sub-continent, China, South- East
Asia, eastern Brazil and the West Indies. The following types of agriculture are
recognizable.
Crops
 Rice is the most important staple crop.
 Irrigation water from rivers, canals, dams or wells is extensively used in the major
rice producing countries.
 Other food crops like maize, millet, sorghum, wheat, gram and beans are of
subsidiary importance. They are cultivated in the drier or cooler areas where rice
cannot be grown.
Lowland cash crops

 The most important crop in this category is cane sugar.
 As much as two-thirds of world’s sugar production comes from tropical countries.
 Some of the major producers include India, Java, Formosa, Cuba, Jamaica,
Trinidad and Barbados.
 Jute is confined almost entirely to the Ganges - Brahmaputra delta, in India and
Bangladesh.
 Other crops include cotton, a major commercial crop of the Indian sub-continent.
Highland plantation crops

 The colonization of tropical lands by Europeans gave rise to a new form of cultivated
landscape in the cooler monsoonal highlands.
 Thousands of acres of tropical upland forests were cleared to make way for plantation
agriculture in which tea and coffee are the most important crops.
Coffee
 Coffee originated in Ethiopia and Arabia.
 But Brazil accounts for almost half the world’s production of coffee.
 It is mainly grown on the eastern slopes of the Brazilian plateau.
 The crop is also cultivated on the highland slopes in the Central American states,
India and eastern Java.
Tea
 Tea originated in China and is still an important crop there.
 It requires moderate temperatures (about 15° C), heavy rainfall (over 150 cm) and
well drained highland slopes.
 It thrives well in the tropical monsoon zone (highlands).
 The best regions are thus the Himalayan foothills of India and Bangladesh, the
central highlands of Sri Lanka and western Java, from all of which it is exported.
 In China tea is grown mostly for local consumption.
Lumbering
 Most of the forests yield valuable timber, and are prized for their durable hardwood.
 Lumbering is undertaken in the more accessible areas. This is particularly important
in continental South-East Asia.
 Of the tropical deciduous trees, teak, of which Burma is the leading producer, is
perhaps the most sought after. It is valuable on account of its great durability,
strength, immunity to shrinkage, fungus attack and insects.
 Teak logs are so heavy that they will not float readily on water. It is therefore
necessary to ‘poison’ the tree several years before actual felling, so that it is dry and
light enough to be floated down the Chindwin and the Irrawaddy to reach the saw
mills at Rangoon.
 Other kinds of timber include Neem, Banyan, Mango, Teak, Sal, Acacia,
Eucalyptus
 Together with the forests are bamboo thickets, which often grow to great heights.
Teak
 Burma alone accounts for as much as three – quarters of the world’s production.
 It is such a durable timber that it is extensively used for ship building, furniture and
other constructional purposes.
Shifting Cultivation
 This most primitive form of farming is widely practiced.
 Instead of rotating the crops in the same field to preserve fertility, the tribesmen
move to a new clearing when their first field is exhausted.
 Maize, dry padi, sweet potatoes and some beans are the most common crops.
 Farming is entirely for subsistence, i.e. everything is consumed by the farmer’s
family, it is not traded or sold.
 As tropical soils are rapidly leached and easily exhausted, the first crop may be
bountiful but the subsequent harvests deteriorate.
 Shifting cultivation is so widely practiced amongst indigenous peoples that different
local names are used in different countries.
Region Name of Shifting Cultivation

Malaysia Lacking
Burma Taungya
Thailand Tamrai
Philippines Caingin
Java Humah
Sri Lanka Chena
Africa and Central America Milpa
North-east India Jhum
Can be a [tough] prelims question under social geography.
Questions
Explain the following statements.
(a) The east coasts of continents within the tropics have much heavier rainfall than
the interiors or the west coasts [Hint: Easterly trade winds].
(b) Near the equatorial latitudes, the period of maximum rainfall is closely related to
the movements of the overhead sun [Hint: Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone shifts
according to the apparent movement of the Sun].
(c) There is a marked difference in temperature between the east and west coasts of
countries in latitudes 20° to 35°N [Hint: Ocean currents].
The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of

1. Equatorial climate
2. Mediterranean climate
3. Monsoon climate
4. All of the above climates
Cultivation of Coffee
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conditions-required-for-the-cultivation-of-coffee/25568/
Climate
 Coffee is grown in tropical climate [Tropical Rainforest Climate or Tropical Monsoon
Climate].
 The coffee plant requires heat, humidity and abundant rainfall.
Temperature
 Coffee requires an average temperature between 20°-27°C. [Average annual
temperature in Rainforest Climate and in Monsoon Climate is ~27 °C]
 It grows in day temperature over 32°C in the Arabian Peninsula.
 Growth is most rapid during hot rainy season.
 Berries ripen during cool dry season and ready for picking.
 Bright sunshine and warm weather are necessary for the harvesting.
Rainfall
 Coffee needs abundant rainfall, i.e., 100 to 200 cm annually.
 The hill slopes which receive orographic rainfall are thus best for coffee cultivation.
Shade
 Direct sunlight is harmful for coffee plants. Hence they are grown under the shade of
trees or plantations like banana.
 In Brazil, leguminous plants are used which not only provide shade but also enrich
soil with nitrogen.
Topography
 Coffee needs well drained landforms. Water stagnation is quite harmful.
 Hence they are grown on slopes (mountain or plateau) with elevation between 600 to
1,800 metres.
 Beyond this height coffee plant is adversely affected by lower temperatures.
Soils
 Ideal soil is one with a good sub-surface drainage and easily workable.
 The presence of humus, nitrates and potash in the soil is an advantage.
 Well-drained volcanic soils like in the Brazilian plateau are the most suitable.
Labour
 Slopes and high elevation doesn’t support mechanization.
 All work needs to be done manually. So labour force requirement is high.
 Coffee berries are hand-picked. Apart from this, there is much work to be done on
plantation all around the year.
Capital
 Coffee cultivation is a capital-intensive activity as it 3-4 years for the first harvest.
Transport
 For a successful coffee plantation a good network of both internal and external
transport is necessary.
Markets
 Huge demand for Coffee in all developed and developing countries.
Climatic Condition for Growing Tea

 India is the largest producer and exporter of tea in the world.
 Assam is the largest producer of tea but West Bengal is noted for the fine quality.
Other important producers include Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and N.E. Hilly
States.
Climate
 Climatically, tea belongs to the monsoon lands where high temperatures, long
growing season and heavy rainfall help the growth of tea plants.
 A temperature of 21°C during the growing season of not less than eight months is
ideal.
 Warm summers and frequent rains promote rapid leaf reproduction and increase the
number of annual pickings.
 During the cool season, e.g., in China and Japan, the tea bushes lie dormant and
there is no picking but where growth is not restricted by a distinct season, as in Sri
Lanka, picking can be carried out all the year round.
 In India and Bangladesh, the highest yields are obtained from June to September
when the weather is hot and rainy, but the best quality tea is derived from the earlier
and later pickings when the climate is cooler and drier.
Relief
 Almost all the commercially-managed tea plantations are located in the highlands
and on hill slopes where the natural drainage is good. Tea cannot tolerate stagnant
water and waterlogged lowlands are thus least suited to tea cultivation. Almost all the
black tea that enters international trade comes from highland districts.
 Different grades of tea are obtained at varying altitudes, e.g., the low grade ‘Low
Crown Tea’ from tea grown below 610 meters; the intermediate grade ‘Medium Crown
Tea’ from altitudes of 610-1,200 meters, while the best quality ‘High Crown Tea’
comes from estates located at 1,220 meters and above.
 Mountain slopes have been adopted for tea gardens all over the tea regions of the
monsoon lands. Undulating and well-watered tracts, where the water escapes freely
without serious soil erosion, offer best conditions for tea cultivation.
Soils
 Tea is grown in variety of soils. The best, however, is a light; friable loam with porous
sub-soil which permits a free percolation of water, for tea is highly intolerant to
stagnant water. In general the most suitable soils are slightly acidic and without
calcium.
 The presence of iron in sub-soil is desirable. On the sloping land which is most
suitable for tea, soil erosion is often a problem. This is combated by planting tea
bushes in lines along the contours.
Shade
 Tea shrubs grow better when shielded from strong sunlight or violent winds. It is
therefore usual in plantations to plant some large trees in between the shrubs to give
shade not only to tea plants but also to the pickers.
Labour
 Tea cultivation and processing are labor-intensive tasks. The work of field
preparation, weeding, manuring, pruning and picking goes on all the year round on
tea estates.
 Female labour is preferred for tea picking because it is a tedious job, requiring both
skill and patience.
 Picking is done entirely by hand, and pickers are paid by piece rate, i.e., by the
amount of tea picked during the day. Workers are also required in the tea processing
plants where the leaves are dried, rolled, fermented, sifted, graded and packed.
Capital
 Tea cultivation is a capital-intensive farming. Tea cultivation requires large finances
for the development of plantations, payment to laborers, for processing, etc. In early
phase of development of tea gardens, foreign capital has been used.
 In other words all the tea gardens in Monsoon Asia were owned by colonial financers.
But now these gardens are either owned by multinational companies, individuals or
by semi-government organizations.
Tea Cultivation in India: Growth, Method, Production and

Distribution
 Tea is the dried leaf of a bush. It contains theine and when added to boiling water
along with sugar and milk, it gives a very cheap and stimulating drink. Thus it is the
most important beverage crop of India.
 Tea bush is supposed to be indigenous to China but it was reported by Major Robert
Bruce in 1823 that indigenous tea bushes grew wild on the hill slopes of upper
Assam. In the year 1840, tea seeds were imported from China and commercial tea
plantations were set up in the Brahmaputra valley.
 To begin with, tea plantations were confined to Upper Assam only but later on, new
areas such as lower Assam and Darjeeling were also opened up to tea plantations
and by 1859, there were 30 tea plantations in Assam alone. Later on, tea plantations
were also set up in Nilgiri Hills of South India, Tarai along the foothills of the
Himalayas and in some places in Himachal Pradesh.
Conditions of Growth
 Tea bush is a tropical and sub-tropical plant and thrives well in hot and humid
climate. There is a very close relation between climate, the yield and the quality of
tea. The ideal temperature for its growth is 20°-30°C and temperatures above 35°C
and below 10°C are harmful for the bush.
 It requires 150-300 cm annual rainfall which should be well distributed throughout
the year. While prolonged dry spell is harmful for tea, high humidity, heavy dew and
morning fog favor rapid development of young leaves. Alternate waves of warm and
cool winds are very helpful for tea leaves. Tea is a shade-loving plant and develops
more vigorously when planted along with shady trees.
 Tea bush grows well in well drained, deep, friable loams. However, virgin forest soils
rich in humus and iron content are considered to be the best soils for tea
plantations. Relatively large proportion of phosphorus and potash in the soil gives
special flavour to tea as is the case in Darjeeling.
 In order to increase the yield, proper dose of nitrogenous fertilizers such as
ammonium sulphate should be given to soil.
 Although tea requires heavy rainfall for its growth, stagnant water is injurious to its
roots. It is, therefore, grown on hill slopes where water drains away easily and water-
logging does not take place. However, it grows equally well in the valley if the
drainage is good. Most of the tea plantations in India are found at elevations varying
from 600 to 1,800 metres above sea level.
 Tea is a labour intensive crop and requires abundant supply of cheap and skilled
labour, especially at the time of plucking the tea leaves. This is a tedious process
which requires skilled manipulation of fingers for plucking two leaves and a bud at a
time.
 For this purpose, women laborers are employed in large numbers. Currently, tea
industry provides employment to one million workers. Through its forward and
backward linkages another 10 million people derive their livelihood from tea. It is one
of the largest employers of women among organized industries of India. Women
constitute over 50 per cent of the total workforce.
Method of Cultivation
 Tea gardens are set up on the cleared hill slopes where shade trees are planted in
advance. Seeds are sown in the germination beds and the saplings transplanted to
the garden. The garden is regularly hoed and weeded so that tea bush grows without
any hindrance. Use of manures and fertilizers is a common practice in the gardens.
Oil cakes and green manures are widely used.
 Pruning of the plant is an essential part of tea cultivation. It helps in maintaining the
proper shape of tea bush to a height of about one metre with about the same
diameter. The aim of pruning is to have new shoots bearing soft leaves in plenty and
to facilitate the plucking of leaves by women laborers from the ground.
Production
 Tea cultivation does not have long tradition in India as it started in the middle of
nineteenth century only, when first tea plantations were established in Assam.
However, tea cultivation has shown steady progress right from the beginning. At the
time of Independence, tea gardens covered 3,011 lakh hectares producing 2.61 lakh
tonnes of tea. The progress of tea cultivation in India from 1960-61 to 2003- 04 is
shown in Table 24.24.
 The above table shows that production, area and yield of tea increased by 166.6 per
cent, 66.6 per cent and 71 per cent respectively between 1960-61 and 2003-04. At
present, India is the largest producer and consumer of tea in the world and accounts
for around 27 per cent of world production.
Distribution
 Tea cultivation in India is highly concentrated in a few selected pockets. Following
three areas of tea cultivation are identified according to their importance as tea
producers and their location.
(1) North-Eastern India; (2) South India (3) North-West India.
1. North-Eastern India:
It is more or less a triangular area mainly in Assam and West Bengal. It extends from 23°N
to 28°N latitudes and 88°E to 96°E longitudes. This is the most important tea producing
region of India accounting for about three-fourth production and about the same
percentage of area under tea production. Tea plantations are small in number (see Table
24.25) but fairly large in size, generally more than 200 hectares.
Assam. Assam is the largest producer of tea accounting for over 51 per cent of the
production and over 53 per cent of area under tea cultivation in India. The average yield is
17.9 quintals/hectare. In 2002-03, Assam produced 414 thousand tonnes of tea. Two
distinct areas of tea production can be identified.
(a) The Brahmaputra Valley extending from Sadiya to Goalpara comprises the main tea
producing belt. It accounts for 44 per cent of India’s tea from 40 per cent of tea area of the
country. There are 676 tea estates mainly in the districts of Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur,
Sibsagar, Darrang, Kamrup, Nagaon, and Goalpara.
With summer temperature of 30°C and winter temperature never falling below 10°C, frost
free weather throughout the year and 300-400 cm annual rainfall extended over 9 months;
the area provides ideal climatic conditions for tea cultivation. Tea estates are located on the
raised grounds (upto 450 metres) so that annual inundations and stagnant water during
the rainy season do not harm the crop.
(b) Surma Valley is the second important in producing area in Assam. This valley, lying in
Cachar district, produces about 5 per cent of country’s tea from 9 per cent of land under
this crop. Here the tea gardens are scattered over small mounds called teelas or bheels or
well drained flats along the river and its tributaries. Here rainfall is 300-400 cm and no
month is completely dry.
West Bengal:
West Bengal is the second largest producer contributing over 22 per cent of India’s tea from
about one-fourth of the country’s total area under tea cultivation. In 2002-03 West Bengal
produced 180 thousand tonnes of tea from 103 thousand hectares of land.
Entire tea of West Bengal is produced in three northern districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri
and Coochbehar. These districts are contiguous to the main tea producing belt of Assam.
Tea producing areas of West Bengal are divided into two geographical regions.
(a) The Duars in Koch Bihar and Jalpaiguri districts is a 16 km wide strip at the foot of the
Himalayas. Here tea is raised on slightly elevated areas where suitable slope for proper
drainage is available. Tea estates are found upto a height of 900-1200 m.
(b) Darjeeling district is well known all over the world for its most exquisite aromatic tea.
Annual rainfall of 300 cm; moderate temperature and fertile soils give special flavour to tea
although yields are quite low, generally below 15 quintals/hectare.
Tea estates are found within 900-1,800 m elevation beyond which the temperature is low
and does not support tea cultivation. According to a study conducted by Tea Board in
2002, land under tea cultivation can be increased by more than 5 per cent. In some of the
smaller gardens of Darjeeling, land under tea cultivation can be increased by about 22 per
cent.
Some tea gardens are also found in Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur in north-east
India.
2. South India:
In South India tea is produced in Nilgiri, Cardamom, Palni and Anaimalai hills in Tamil
Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka states extending from 9°N to 14°N latitudes. This region
accounts for 25 per cent production and about 24 per cent of area under tea in India.
Tea gardens are mostly located on the hill slopes of the Western Ghats between 300 and
1,800 m altitude. The tea estates are quite large in number (see Table 24.25) but quite
small in size. The temperatures are uniformally high and the annual rainfall exceeds 400
cm.
There is no fear of frost in south India and weather conditions are quite congenial.
Therefore, the productivity is higher, generally 15-25 quintals/hectare, although the quality
of tea is inferior. But some of the south Indian teas have a good combination of taste and
flavour.
In South India, Tamil Nadu is the largest producer of tea accounting for about 16 per cent
of total tea production of India from just 11 per cent of the land. Tamil Nadu has the
distinction of giving a high yield of over 25 quintals/hectare against 18.5 quintals/hectare
for India as a whole.
Nilgiri and Anaimalai produce 46 per cent and 33 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s tea respectively.
Kerala is another important producer of tea in South India accounting for 8.45 per cent of
the total production of India. Kottayam, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram are the main tea
producing districts. Some tea is produced in Hassan and Chikmaglur districts of
Karnataka.
3. North West India:

Some of tea is produced in Dehra Dun, Almora and Garhwal districts of Uttaranchal and in
Kangra Valley and Mandi district of Hiamchal Pradesh. Green tea is produced in Kangra
valley of Himachal Pradesh.
Tea in small quantity is also produced in Ranchi and Hazaribagh districts of Chota Nagpur
plateau in Jharkhand.
Trade:
Besides being the largest producer, India is also the leading exporter of tea in the world.
India had a long tradition of being the largest exporter of tea in the world, but her
predominant position as an undisputed leader of tea exporting country has been severely
shattered by fast increasing domestic consumption and by tough competition by some
other tea exporting countries in the world market.
Despite about three times increase in the production of tea from 2.78 lakh tonnes in 1950-
51 to about 8 lakh tonnes in 2003-04, our exports have been pegged around two lakh
tonnes a year from 1950-51 to 2001- 02 and fell, thereafter to come down to 1.78 lakh
tonnes in 2003-04.
The amount of foreign exchange earnings had also come down from a record of Rs. 1,976
crore in 2000-01 to 1,637 crore in 2Q03-04, a loss of Rs. 313 crore in a short span of three
years. The percentage of export of tea to total production also came down drastically from
70.14 in 1950-51 to 22 in 2003-04. Currently tea exports from India account for about 13
per cent of the world trade.
Our present per capita consumption of about 0.6 kg is much lower than that of 0.8 kg in
Australia, 0. 9 kg in Japan, 1.0 kg in New Zealand, 1.5 kg in Ireland and 2.4 kg in United
Kingdom. If our per capita consumption also increases along with the increase in
population, for which there is a vast scope, we shall be left with very little surplus for
export. Internal consumption of tea has already grown from a modest of 319 million kg in
1981 to a staggering 697 million kg in 2003.
Any attempt to increase production and thereby increase export after meeting the
increasing domestic demand will largely involve new seeds and techniques of tea cultivation
because prospects of acquiring virgin land for expanding tea plantations are extremely
bleak. Presently, about 52 per cent of the total area under tea plantations has old bushes,
some of them older than 40 years, and are not capable of giving high yields.
There is urgent need to replace the old bushes with new plants. TV-29, a high yielding
clone of tea was introduced in 1991. This seed gives four times as large as the average yield
given by the conventional seeds and holds out great possibilities for increasing tea
production in India. Old bushes giving low yields are likely to be replanted gradually with
high yielding tea plants.
In order to achieve this goal of meeting the growing demand in the home market and to
produce surplus for export a plan for additional 5,000 hectares of new plantations in the
non-traditional areas, replanting of 20,000 hectares of old bushes by new plants and
rejuvenation of 40,000 hectares by irrigation, proper drainage and improved cultural
practices has been chalked out.
In addition to the increasing domestic demand and dwindling exportable surpluses, India
has to face tough competition from other tea exporting countries especially from Sri Lanka,
China, Japan, Indonesia and some African countries. India’s share in the world market has
come down from 45 per cent in 1950-51 to 15 per cent in 2003-04.
Exports from Sri Lanka occasionally surpass the exports from India. India exports tea to as
many as 80 countries but Russia, U.K., the USA, Germany, Australia, Afghanistan, Ireland,
Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, etc. are our main customers. U.K. is generally the chief buyer. A
remarkable feature of export during 2002 was the sharp rise tea exports to Iraq, which had
become the second largest (22 per cent) destination of Indian tea after Russia (24 per cent).
Tea exports to West Asia—North Africa region jumped to 76 million kg in 2002, from 48 kg
in 2001 mainly due to increased exports to Iraq under the ‘Oil-for-Food Programme’.
Kolkata is the chief port of tea export from India. The other major ports through which tea
is exported are Chennai, Mangalore and Kochi.
Of late, some quality of tea is imported for blending and re-exports. Large quantities of
inferior quality tea are imported and re-exported, severely affecting India’s quality image in
the international market. In the year 1996-97, 1.25 million kg of tea worth Rs. 6.21 crore
was imported.
These figures increased to 15.23 million kg and Rs. 95.47 crore in 2000-01. Over 80 per
cent of the imported tea was supplied by Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Vietnam was
the largest source accounting for 55 per cent of the total imports. Taking a serious note of
falling tea exports, the Government of India took several steps in 2004 to help tea growers
in increasing the production and exports of tea.

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Group A : Tropical Humid Climates

Tropical Monsoon Climate

Distribution of Tropical Monsoon Climate

 Temperatures range from 30-45° C in summer. Mean summer temperature is about

The cool, dry season (October to February)

The hot dry season (March to mid-June)

The rainy season (mid-June to September)

The Retreating Monsoon

The role of monsoons in India is vital for its economy.

Tropical Marine Climate

Tropical Monsoon Forests

 Broad-leaved hardwood trees. Well developed in southeast Asia.

Population and Economy in Monsoon Climate

Agricultural Development in the Monsoon Lands

Lowland cash crops

Highland plantation crops

Region Name of Shifting Cultivation

The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of

Climatic Condition for Growing Tea

Tea Cultivation in India: Growth, Method, Production and

(1) North-Eastern India; (2) South India (3) North-West India.

3. North West India:

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