Due to enhanced subsidies for replanting:

Sri Lanka tea draws highest world prices - Mahinda Samarasinghe

By P. Krishnaswamy

The future of Sri Lanka's 150 year old tea industry is bright and the UPFA government is doing everything necessary for the long term sustainability and prosperity of the industry, Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe and other main stakeholders told the Sunday Observer. Sri Lanka continues to produce the best brand which has a demand and fetches the highest price in the world tea market, promising a bright future, they said. The enhanced subsidies on replanting, new planting and fertilisers and the introduction of the mechanisation process for harvesting, pruning and holing are some of the measures initiated by the Government in the recent years for the promotion of the industry, they said.

Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe said that the Government has initiated all measures necessary for updating and promoting the industry. The subsidy for re-planting has been increased to Rs.350,000 from Rs.300,000 per hectare, for new planting the amount has been increased to 235,000 and the for the fertiliser subsidy Rs. 6 Billion has been allocated in the current budget, he said.

Agreement

Under an agreement entered into with the Bank of Ceylon, every tea small holder owning tea lands two acres in extent or less will be able to get a loan up to Rs.500, 000 for re-planting, new planting, maintenance of the drainage system, upkeep of the reservoirs and other purposes relating to the industry, Minister Samarasinghe said. As a marked deviation from the traditional manual methods of harvesting, the mechanisation of the process is being introduced and the Government has allocated Rs.100 Million under the current budget for the purchase and distribution of the harvesting machines.

This program was launched last week in an effort to address the labour shortage problem, he said. Harvesting machines purchased for Rs.22 Million have already been distributed among tea small holders and more machines to the value of Rs.30 Million are now being purchased for distribution, he said.

The program is now being implemented in the Galaha, Matara and Kalutara tea producing areas and will be expanded to the Kegalle, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura tea producing areas. Every tea small holder owning lands less than 2 acres in extent is entitled to a grant of Rs.5000/-, the Minister said.

Chairman of the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka (TRI) Dr. Gerry Jayawardene, expressed optimism that the industry which survived for 150 long years in spite of all ups and downs will survive in the future too. The Sri Lankan tea continues to maintain its reputation as the world's best brand and has a demand even today, he said. With the Government's commitment to promote the industry and an able Minister holding the portfolio of plantation industries, everything is being done to promote the industry and, no doubt, it will grow to new heights, Dr. Jayawardene said.

There are about 390,000 families dependent on the tea small holders and this has been considered as a major factor for providing incentives to boost the industry, he said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has allocated Rs.6 Billion in the current budget for the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and the tea small holders. Under the able guidance of Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe the TRI is doing everything, including the introduction of the latest techniques and developing fast growing cultivars, for the promotion of the industry. Sri Lanka tea is getting the highest ever prices compared to other competitors, Dr.Jayawardene said. Those in the industry are very competitive with their long experience and they know the trends of the world market, he said. The Ministry, the TRI, the Tea Board and other stakeholders are doing their best to maintain the quality of the Sri Lankan tea, which is a major challenge, he said.

The biennial Collective Agreement on wage increase to the plantation workers is getting renewed every two years ensuring a reasonable remuneration to the workers but on the other hand productivity has not improved. It is, therefore, necessary that all stakeholders should work hand in hand towards increasing productivity, he said.

Research

Director of the TRI Dr. Sarath B Abeysinghe said that one of the key research programs of the TRI is developing new varieties of cultivars that will be drought resistant while contributing to higher yields and better quality. The lately developed 5000 series cultivars which have all these characteristics has now been introduced to the industry to ensure its long term sustainability and increased productivity. The cultivars of this series will be highly localised to suit the climatic conditions of the plantations in the up-country, mid-country, low country and the Uva tea producing regions, Dr. Abeysinghe said. A program to familiarise the machine-harvest method was launched by the Government, taking into consideration the fact that 40 percent of the cost of production goes to harvesting. The newly developed harvesting machines have been introduced in an effort to address the progressively dwindling workforce.

Programs were launched last week to promote the machine-harvest system and to popularise the machine among tea small holders. It was a combined program of the TRI, the Tea Board, the Private Tea Factory Owners' Association and the Sri Lana Tea Federation, he said. An awareness program will be held tomorrow and the day after (Monday and Tuesday) followed by imparting training to selected persons on using the machine and they, in turn, will train more persons in their respective areas, he said. The harvesting done by the machine is of the same quality as by humans but the harvest is many times faster, Dr. Abeysinghe said, adding that one of the machines developed by the TRI won an international award in Geneva.

Revenue

Chairman of the Planters' Association of Ceylon (PA) Roshan Rajadurai said that the tea industry which substantially contributed to the national revenue and the socio-economic welfare of the local communities is strong and will grow in spite of the many challenges it encounters. All aspects for the sustainability and growth of the industry, including replanting and welfare of the workers, are being taken care of and there is no reason why the industry should fail. Speculation that replanting was neglected is totally incorrect because replanting was done when and where necessary in the past 20 years. Replanting has been done in almost 33 percent of the total tea producing areas under the RPCs. The tea workers are getting a reasonable remuneration under the Collective Agreement on wage increase to them and they are also being provided other facilities, Rajadurai said. Sri Lankan tea is getting the best prices in the world tea market but productivity is not very encouraging in spite of the wage increase to the workers.

Unless all stakeholders, including the workers and the trade unions representing them, worked closely with the managements towards increasing productivity, the management companies will encounter difficulties in paying the increased wages and offering work on the required number of days in a year. The hard work of plantation workers in Kenya has contributed to the country's increased tea production but they do not get the good price that the Sri Lankan tea gets. They got lower prices even compared to the price they got in 2012. We produce the best tea and we have a good demand in the world tea market. So all stakeholders should work hand in hand to increase productivity, PA chairman Rajadurai said.

General Manager of the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) N.B.Cyril said that the UPFA government's contribution towards promoting the industry is commendable. Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe has done many things that were overdue for many decades.

An expeditious replanting program was launched on his initiative and the subsidy on replanting was increased to Rs.350, 000 from Rs.190, 000, the TSHDA General Manager said. The productivity of the tea small holders has increased to 245 Million Kg in 2013 as against 235 Million Kg in the previous year which is a 1 percent increase of the gross national production.

The tea small holders contribute to 72 percent of the total national production and the government is doing many things to assist and encourage them. The fertiliser subsidy is commendable because the government is giving fertilisers at Rs.1300 while it is worth Rs.3,500. In the current budget an amount of Rs.6 Billion was allocated for the fertiliser subsidy, Cyril said. Sri Lanka produces the cleanest tea and retains its reputation as the best brand, he said. The tea small holders welcome the introduction of modern techniques and mechanisation of the harvesting and other processes, he said.