Kathmandu, July 13

At a time when the impact of climate change is seen all over the world, Nepal is not untouched by it.

With various sectors witnessing the effects, tea farmers and entrepreneurs have claimed that climate change has changed the taste of tea produced in Nepal.

They made this claim on the basis of a study conducted in 14 districts of the country for over a year.

Although 62 per cent of the respondents during the survey said they did not find the change in the taste of tea, 40 per cent respondents shared that the taste of tea had changed. They also said that tea production had also gone down and found a significant change in growth of tea plants and harvesting time.

This information was shared at an event organised jointly by Central Bureau of Statistics and National Tea and Coffee Development Board here today. It was revealed through a survey on commercial tea farming in Nepal. The sample survey was conducted for the first time for a year in 2074 BS.

Initially cultivated only in eastern districts as Ilam, Jhapa, Panchthar, Dhankuta and Tehrathum, tea farming become popular in Dolakha, Nuwakot, Ramechhap, Bhojpur and Lalitpur in the later years. There are 9,246 tea farmers and entrepreneurs in 14 districts of the country.

According to the survey report, in 12,066 hectares of land, farmers and entrepreneurs produced green tea leaves weighing more than 100 metric tonnes in a year.