Kenyan Tea, Coffee Production to Rise Due to Torrential Rains
Bloomberg.com By Eric Ombok
Kenya, the world’s biggest grower of black tea, may see a 10 percent rise in output of the leaves in January following torrential rains that have fallen since December, said Peter Kegode, an agricultural economist.
Tea and coffee require a lot of water and won’t be washed away because they are deep-rooted, Kegode, an independent economist who advises sugar, dairy and tea industry associations, said in a phone interview from Nairobi today. “There has been above-average rain in tea- and coffee-growing areas. There should be 10 percent increase in tea production,” he said.
Tea production will increase immediately because the leaves are picked daily, Kegode said, while this won’t be the case for coffee as January isn’t its flowering season.
At least 18 people died and 520,000 were displaced in the East African nation over the first week of this year because of flash floods following more than three years of drought, the Kenyan Red Cross Society said. Kenyan tea production fell to the lowest since 2004 during the first nine months of 2009 as the water shortage hindered growth, the Kenyan Tea Board said.
Production by the Kenya Tea Development Agency, the country’s biggest grower and exporter of tea, is forecast to rise to 84 million kilograms (185 million pounds) of green leaf from 81 million kilograms a year earlier, it said today in an e- mailed response to questions.
“The rains of course translates into increased production,” said Fred Gori, a spokesman for the agency, said. “The forecasts indicate that the current rains will continue into February.” The only downside to the heavy rains could be tea and coffee diseases, Kegode said.
The quality of tea leaves will not be affected by the heavy rains as long as key parameters are maintained, Gori said.
“Some of the parameters include plucking only two leaves and a bud, maintaining regular plucking rounds, pruning at regular intervals, proper transportation and generally, maintaining good husbandry practices,” Gori added.
Production of the leaf advanced to 35.8 million kilograms in November from 34.4 million kilograms in November 2008, the Tea Board of Kenya, the industry regulator, said last month.
