Hail damage may prove to be costly for tea farmers in eastern Nepal this year. Harvesting has been postponed by two weeks-time for the plants to heal but if there aren't enough sunny days the crop is highly susceptible to fungi and rot. Perhaps more worrying is a plummeting international market for orthodox tea. Two years ago, the farmers in Ilam earned Rs 40 per kg of fresh tea leaves. Last year they got paid half that amount. "This year it might go even lower," says CP Rai, manager of Himalayan Shangri-La Tea Producers. The recent increase in oil prices in Nepal will bite into their already narrow profit margins.