While temperatures in Kerala’s midlands and coastal belt have been rising, the Munnar hill station has been shivering as the mercury has dropped to sub-zero levels.
Though the mild weather has drawn tourists, Kannan Devan Hill Plantations (KDHP) has sustained a significant loss due to frost withering of tea plants on 550 hectares of plantation. According to the firm, this is the largest loss since 2014, when frost damaged 800 hectares of tea.
“The temperature was hanging at sub-zero levels consistently from January 11 to 21 which caused frost fall and damage to tea plants. After thereafter, the temperature climbed and stayed between 5 and 7 degrees Celsius until last week. The temperature began to fall on Thursday, and two stations registered sub-zero temperatures on Saturday.
However, it is extremely hot during the day, with temperatures reaching 28 degrees Celsius by noon,” stated an officer. “We are yet to determine the loss but the plants would take at least four months to regrow. “Yield will plummet dramatically in the next months,” he said.
Tea freezes surprisingly effectively, owing to a lack of moisture in the leaves, which might damage the cell structure. As a result, before freezing the tea, make sure it’s sealed in a waterproof container.
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