Educational programme for tea cultivation

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

COLOMBO: The Plantation Industries Ministry will launch an educational programme to teach the children of Tea Smallholders about tea cultivation. This will be implmented in two stages for Ordinary Level and Advanced Level students.

According to Tea Small Holders Auhority children of 350,000 families both male and female will be benifited from this project.

The theory and practical lessons starting from tea cultivation to production will be included in the programme which will be operated under eight offices belonging to Tea Small Holders Authority in Galle, Matara, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya and Kegalle. A minimum of 14 districts will be covered in the future.

General Manager S. Nandasena said quality tea nurseries will also be started through eight divisional offices to meet the high demand for tea plants.

Nandasena said eight mobile vehicles will be deployed islandwide to educate small cultivators.

These educational programmes will be implemented together with 3,167 Samurdhi families in 247 villages.