A discussion with the all stakeholders involved in the tea industry in Rathnapura District

A special discussion was held today (16) at the Ratnapura District Secretariat Auditorium among the small tea estate owners, owners of the tea nurseries, green tea leaf collectors and tea factory owners engaged in the tea industry in the Ratnapura District.

This special discussion was led by the Minister of Plantations and Community Infrastructure, Hon. Samantha Vidyarathna. Ratnapura District contributes about twenty-five percent (25) to the country's total tea production. There are around 120,000 of small tea estate owners are located in Rathnapura District and around 550 green tea leaf collectors. Also, there are 93 active tea factories located in district.

The Government’s target is to increase the total tea production of the country to 400 million Kilos of tea leaf by 2030. Currently, annual tea production is around 262 million kilos of finished tea leaves, generating an income of about US Dollar 1.49 billion. The government aims to increase it to 2.5 billion of dollar by 2030.

Also, special attention was paid during this discussion to providing a fertilizer subsidy for the tea cultivation and establishing a disease control force consisting of experts to protect the tea cultivation and other plantation crops from various diseases, developing a database system for small and medium scale tea estate owners and updating it regularly, and further improving the quality of the tea cultivation. The Deputy Minister of Plantations and Community Infrastructure, Hon. Sundaralingam Pradeep, the Honorable Member of Parliament Dr. Hon. Janaka Senaratne, District Secretariat/ Government Agent K.G.S.Nishantha, Additional Secretary of Ministry of Plantations and Community Infrastructure (Plantation Policy and Tea Development) Tharangi Wickramasingha and a group of others participated to this event.