Planters fear Ceylon Tea suffering fate of SL tourism

• Planters Association of Ceylon says cannot continue to manage situation
• Says highly possible tea industry will suffer same fate of tourism, if authorities continue to ignore ground realities 
• Plantations struggling to deal with pandemic of weed, crop quality impacted
• Says it’s a matter of priority

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam 
The Planters Association of Ceylon yesterday expressed fear in the fate of Ceylon Tea being similar to that of the tourism sector, as the relevant authorities continue to fail to acknowledge, let alone manage the hardships faced. 
While the industry was set up to collapse with the unpopular decision by the government to switch entirely to organic agriculture practices, a move that was pushed without providing those in plantations and agriculture room to make the transition, the worsening economic crisis has added fuel to the fire. 

“We are unsure for how long we can continue to manage. We are just about managing. Our costs have skyrocketed. We are seeing the high potential tourism sector fall apart, due to the authorities choosing to ignore the ground realities and we worry if the tea industry will suffer the same fate. 

At this rate, it is highly possible,” Planters Association of Ceylon Spokesperson Roshan Rajadurai said. 
The plantation sector is currently faced with multiple challenges. Some of the key challenges include the shortage of fertilisers, weedicies and fungicides. Although the fertiliser and weedicide ban was reversed, the dollar shortage stands as a new hurdle in importing the chemicals for the management of plantations. 

“It’s a pandemic of weed in the plantations. That is how bad the situation is. There is only so much that can be done with manual labour. With weedicies, we were able to control the weed growth. We can’t anymore. This is impacting the quality of the crop,” shared Rajadurai.

He added that the quality of the Ceylon Tea crop is likely to take a further hit due to the rains, which lead to a spread in fungal leaf disease. 

Furthermore, the output is also worsening, due to limited access to fertilisers, which in turn will have a direct hit on the quantities exported. 

Tea production for 1Q22 contracted by 15 percent year-on-year (YoY). The output for the first three months of the year is a significant decrease of 11.41 Mnkgs when compared with 74.51 Mnkgs achieved in the corresponding period in 2022.  

“Seems like we, the private sector, continuing to manage the harsh situations in the plantations, are taken for granted by the relevant authorities. They think we can go on managing even with the worsening of the economic crisis and other factors. This won’t be the case for long,” stressed Rajadurai. 

Unlike the tourism sector that relies on international travellers to visit the country for the generation of foreign exchange, the operation of the tea sector is all internal, which is easier to manage, added Rajadurai.

“It’s all within the control of the country. It’s a matter of prioritising. We don’t have power, no fuel. If the MPs can receive power and fuel without interruption, I don’t see why export industries such as tea cannot be prioritised,” said Rajadurai.