Kerala Tea Plantation

Kerala is a land of natural beauty abundant in green vegetation, paddy fields, spice, coffee and tea plantations. Kerala is rich in its heritage and culture and has divine temples, clear water, beautiful backwaters and various sports activities.

However, Kerala is always famous for its Tea Plantation. The Western Ghats in Kerala is filled with huge tea estates extending to a wide expanse enveloping the areas in and around Munnar.

Tea cultivation was introduced by British in the colonial times in Kerala as they found the soil conditions and climatic conditions favorable for tea cultivation. Thus today India is the largest tea exporter and producer.

The Kerala tea plantations are beautiful to view as these green bushes cover the entire hill slopes and form a green blanket over the hill surface. Tourists are provided accommodation by few tea plantations to have a close stay and to observe the traditional nurture of an agricultural plantation.

These tea plantations are well equipped with contemporary conveniences. The tea plantations in Kerala are also a pleasant place of visit for the tourists who travel on Kerala Backwater Tours. Observing the tea harvesting as well as processing, going for treks and relaxing in the peaceful environment of the tea estate is also an activity included by the Kerala Backwater Tours.

In Kerala, Munnar is the essential tea town. There are various tea plantation companies such as Tata Tea, Michael’s Tea, AVT Tea and Brooke Bond. The Assam variety of tea is nurtured in Munnar.

Regular pruning manages the plantations to a height of 4 to 5 feet and on an average it has a life of 40 years if pruning and plucking is regular. Tea bushes are planted in the natural contours at a distance of 1 to 1.5 mtr.

Tea is also grown on special terraces as they help in irrigation and avert erosion. Formerly, tea plants grew from tea seeds and now young plants are cultivated from the cuttings of strong and rich bush. Amidst tea plants, trees such as Gliricidia, Silver Oak and Erythrina are planted to shield them from light and heat.

In Kerala tea plantations are taken absolute care. The leaves are hand plucked at intervals in 5-10 days. The new shoot depends on the climatic conditions. An experienced plucker plucks 30 kg tea leaves one day and nearly 4 kg tea leaves are required for one kg black tea.

Tea requires an acid soil. Similarly, developments in tea cultivation are increasing every year per acre. The tea leaves are processed and sorted depending on the processing treatments and fermentations.