Impact of mechanised harvesting on area coverage and cost economics in tea: A case study

Abstract

Plucking is highly labour intensive and significantly affects the cost of production in tea. The traditional method of hand plucking has become expensive and difficult to carry out in proper time due to shortage of manpower. Mechanised harvesting was found cheaper and covered more area/unit of time. Different usage patterns of plucking machines followed by two gardens on a commercial scale were identified and each pattern is discussed.