According to the Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute, it will be possible to earn an income of 1.5 billion USD this year from the export of tea in Sri Lanka.
In the last two years, the tea industry in this country has been able to earn foreign exchange amounting to 01 to 1.2 billion USDs.
The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera held a review meeting last Sunday (07) regarding the progress of St. Coombs Tea Factory and Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute in Talawakele.
The ban on chemical fertilizers in 2021 had also affected tea cultivation in Sri Lanka. And due to this, the application of fertilizers for tea cultivation in the years 2022 and 2023 had decreased. Due to this there was some reduction in the yield of tea cultivation.
But from this year, the two government-owned fertilizer companies started providing fertilizer for tea at a concessional price. The Government owned fertilizer companies took steps to provide three types of tea fertilizers, which are worth around Rs. 14,000 in the market, at a price of Rs. 5500 to Rs. 7500 per 50 kg bundle. An amount of 1200 million rupees has been allocated from the money of the Sri Lanka Tea Board for this subsidy.
Accordingly, application of fertilizers for tea cultivation has been started in three stages. Under the first phase, 30,000 metric tons of tea fertilizer is to be distributed and 10,000 metric tons of it has already been distributed.
During this discussion, the officials said that by applying fertilizer for tea cultivation and planting saplings in vacant places, it will be possible to get a high yield of tea cultivation in the coming year.
During this year, an income of 1.5 billion American dollars has been achieved through the export of tea. Currently, Sri Lankan tea is exported to 150 countries, out of which 20 countries buy our tea on a large scale.
The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera, who expressed his opinion in this discussion, also mentioned that the land currently cultivated for the development of the tea industry in this country is sufficient and no more new land will be used for tea cultivation.
Instead, the tea research institute should take measures to increase the tea-related products as value-added products by applying fertilizers to the tea plantations, planting empty seedlings, introducing the high-density cultivation system, and increasing the value-added products.
Talawakele Tea Research Institute has introduced 70 new varieties of tea so far. The Tea Research Institute also points out that these tea varieties are in high demand internationally.
This progress review meeting was attended by a group of officials from the Tea Research Institute as well as the Agrarian Development Commissioner General Mr. A.M.H.L. Abeyratne and others participated.
The post Sri Lanka Tea Board will expect $1.5Bn. this year from tea exports appeared first on DailyNews.