The Government has drawn up a comprehensive plan to boost national tea production to 400 mn kg by 2028 and expects tea smallholders to contribute significantly towards this goal, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Estate Infrastructure, Sundaralingam Pradeep told a Public- Private Partnership event at the BMICH to recognise tea smallholders last week.
The Deputy Minister who the chief guest said, “The Government has developed a comprehensive plan to enhance tea production to around 400 m kilograms by 2028.
“The tea smallholder sector has a big role to play in this endeavour since it contributes to over 70 percent of national tea production.”
The Private-Public Partnership Program titled ‘Dallakin Wenesak’ was spearheaded by CIC Agri Businesses in January 2024 with the assistance of the Plantation Ministry, Tea Small Holders Development Authority, (TSHDA), Tea Research Institute (TRI), Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB), Tea Small Holders Society (TSHS) and Universities as a pilot project in the Galle, Matara and Ratnapura districts targeting over 4,000 Tea farmers. The aim of this project was to address the declining productivity of tea lands.
The PPP which was aimed at increasing productivity in tea lands was a success as tea smallholders recorded increases between 15% to 45% within 12 to 16 months.
Additional Secretary, Ministry of Plantation and estate infrastructure, Tharanganee Wickramasinghe said, “The Ministry plans to get the support of all stakeholders in the tea sector to implement the four-year plan to enhance tea production up to 400 m kilos while targeting an export income of 2.5 b USD. Building private-public partnerships is a key feature in the plan.”
Tea production in Sri Lanka has been continuously declining, and average productivity of tea lands is much less than the yields recorded in other tea growing countries. The continuous decline of tea crop productivity and the quality of green leaf is a serious concern for the Lankan tea industry. Today, the national average tea yield (kg made tea/year) is as low as 1,400 kg/ha compared to the global average which is 2,200 kg/ha. Aging of tea plants, bush debilitation, low replanting rate, poor adoption of GAPs, impact of climate change and labour shortages are found to be some of the key contributory factors to the lower yields.
Having identified the shortcomings and the gaps CIC Agri Businesses mobilised it’s extension staff and with the TSHDA,TRI,SLTB and TSHS worked closely with the 4,000 tea farmers in the three districts educating and guiding them all the way with some of the best agricultural practices through structured training, soil testing, crop clinics and input packages that was aimed at improving the standard of plucking operations, proper management of shade trees, scientific management of soil and the tea bushes.
A scientific evaluation of the project was executed by expert teams representing TRI, …TSHDA and CIC Agri Businesses. A baseline survey before initiating the project, and an evaluation at the end of the project was also conducted. The evaluation was conducted with the data gathered from about 450 farmers of good performing clusters covering three districts.
The key outcomes of the project were evaluated in terms of adoption of good agricultural practices (GAPs) and yield increase achieved. Adoption of GAPs related to plucking, nutrient management, and soil moisture conservation, and weed control, shade and pest and disease management.
These key agricultural practices that were poorly adopted prior to the project improved considerably.
The farm record keeping practice which was hardly adopted prior to the project has improved. However, what was most remarkable was the increases in yield recorded during this period. Some of the tea farmers increased their yields by 40-45%.
The best model farmers and farmer clusters, including the best leader farmers of each district, were rewarded at the ceremony.
Managing Director of CIC AgriBusinesses, Waruna Madwanarachchi also spoke.
