HANGZHOU - Ongoing rain in east Zhejiang province will bring about a 15-day-delay to the start of spring tea picking, provincial agricultural authorities said Thursday.

The continuous low temperatures and drizzle will force tea gardens -- covering a total of 1 million mu (66,666 hectares) -- to postpone the start of picking for half a month, said Lu Debiao, deputy chief of tea section in provincial agriculture department.

Provincial statistics show rainfall this year rose 65 percent year-on-year, and the amount of sunshine was the lowest in 60 years.

The delay of tea-picking, especially for the world-famed Longjing tea, or westlake tea, will likely hike market prices by 10 percent, Lu said.