P.S. Sundar

Coonoor June 6 Dry weather has slowed the harvest in many tea plantation pockets of the Nilgiris and the spread of red spider mites has raised doubts on the flush crop of June.

The only mentionable rain in the Coonoor belt for the last two months came yesterday and today, although some useful showers hit Udhagamandalam and Kotagiri areas in the last week of May. Till April, the rainfall was lower than the level of last year as also the decennial average in all the taluks. According to the UPASI Tea Research Foundation, in Coonoor, the cumulative rainfall in the four months was only 14.5 cm, against 28.4 cm last year and the decennial average of 23.2 cm. So, plantations reported drought conditions.

Humid conditions

In some areas, the red spider mite infestation has flared up. "This is mainly due to the warm humid conditions that are conducive for the build-up of mites and more importantly, the delay in commencement of spraying besides the improper method of spraying. In many instances, pesticide application was initiated only after noticing prominent symptoms of damage," the Foundation said.

"We tried applying the pesticide, but due to high cost, we could not take immediate steps. Given the conducive dry weather, the mite spread fast. It grew beyond our control. Now, we reckon that some 80 per cent of the crop in some 2,000 hectares around Ithlar-Nanjanad-Mullikorai-Emerald belt has been lost due to the infestation", Mr H. Viswanathan, a farmer told Business Line in Ithlar village.

"Once the rains come, the shoots will appear again and the mites would be out. We will then have a good crop," Mr Viswanathan said.

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