Tea replanting an urgent need - Chairman Tea Board

by L. S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

A systematic tea replanting programme should be implemented soon to secure Sri Lanka's leading position in the tea industry which is the second largest foreign exchange earner of the country said the Chairman Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTA) Lalith Hettiarachchi.

He said that most of the tea plantations managed by Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) had been replanted 40 to 60 years ago. The best yield of the tea plant can be obtained upto 30 years and the yield starts deteriorating after 30 years, he said.

In an exclusive interview with 'Sunday Observer' the chairman said that the best yield is given by the vegetatively propagated tea plant (VP). Most of RPCs tea plantations are not VP tea but tea seed plantations, he said. The Chairman said that the cost to replant tea in a hectare is Rs. 1 1/2 million. The yield can be obtained after five years from a new replantation. RPCs are reluctant to go for tea replanting programmes under the present lease agreements as the balance period is less than another thirty years according to the managing companies he said.

He also said that in 2009 - RPCs contributed only 30 percent out of the total tea production of the country and the balance 70 percent was by the tea smallholders. RPCs bought tea leaf from the tea small holders for their factories he said.