Credit facilities to tea smallholders to be increased

Irangika Range

COLOMBO: The Plantation Industries Ministry will increase the credit facilities of up country and midland tea smallholders from Rs. 160,000 up to Rs. 200,000 per acre. Minister D.M. Jayaratne said that the low country tea smallholders' credit facility has also increased from Rs. 150,000 to Rs. 190,000.

Minister D.M. Jayaratne will present this credit increment for the approval of the Parliament under the rules and regulations of the Tea Small Holding Development Act.

The Ministry would implement this decision till they receive the Parliament approval.

"Seventy per cent of the local tea production receive from the tea smallholders and the Ministry is very keen on encouraging them for the increasing of production effectively," said Ministry's Secretary J. Abeywikrama.

The crop diversification and the introducing of new tea varieties will be done by the Tea Research Institute continuously. Under the new pilot project around 2,000 hectares will be cultivated by 2017. The project will be implemented under a 10-year strategy investing Rs. 2,191.5 million.