Description
Cultivation of tea is expanding rapidly. At present 45 countries grow tea over an area of approximately lA million hectares.The current annual production stands around 2100 million kilograms.These statistics give some indication of the magnitude of the tea trade, the capital invested in it and the number of persons directly orindirectly dependent on this commodity for their livelihood.More than a dozen institutions in different parts of the world are engaged solely on research for the improvement of production,plant protection and processing of tea. The information generated in some of these institutions often remain inaccessible to scientists of the other institutions. Surprisingly, ery few attempts were made in the past to collate the research findings on this crop.The author undertook to write this book at the behest of late Sir Frank L. Engledow F.R.S., who had a long association with the Indian tea industry and was fully acquainted with the progress of tea research in different parts of the world. Writing got delayed due to various reasons and Sir Frank did not live to see publication of the book. The author wil1 always remain grateful to him for his suggestion and encouragement.Attempt is made to preserve order and sequence in dealing with different facets of tea culture. Information which fitted into the general scheme of writing was drawn from various publications but, on. consideration of space, discretion had to be exercised in their choice.While dealing with different aspects of tea production, the interest of the general readers and students has also been kept in view. Plant protection and processing of tea fall outside the scope of this book. These will require separate treatment.The author is grateful to the ·Tea Research Association for providing facility for writing and for undertaking publication of the book. He also thanks Dr. S. C. Das and Mr. A. C. Dutta for helpinghim with the drawings and photographs and Mrs. Bharati Kalita for typing the manuscript.
