Cultivate your lands or they will be taken over - Plantations Minister

Chaminda Perera

The Plantation Industries Ministry will have to take over lands uncultivated by estate companies, Minister D.M. Jayaratne said.

The Minister speaking at a press briefing at the Galle Face Hotel on Wednesday, said this has affected the country’s tea production. Tea production dropped from 310 million kilogrammes in 2006 to 305 million kilogrammes last year, the Minister said.

The protracted labour unrest and the drougt in the upcounty last year also attributed to this, he said.

Jayaratne said the Ministry is fully empowered to take over uncultivated land under the Lands Development Act passed in Parliament in 2000.

“We will have to take over land belonging to Estate companies in the Udapalatha and Doluwa Pradeshiya Sabha divisions, if steps are not taken to bring these lands under cultivation, the Minister said. He said a special Gazette Notification to this effect has already been issued.

Tea smallholders play a major role in the promotion of tea production in Sri Lanka. They possess over 132,329 hectares or 60 per cent of the total tea cultivation, Jayaratne said.

He said the tea industry recorded a major victory last year by recording over US$ 1 billion worth tea export earnings which is a 22 per cent increase as against 2006.

The Minister said Estate managements pay less attention on recultivation of tea which is key to raise the industry’s productivity. “Sri Lanka should not rely on other countries. We import 1,016 essential commodities but only 710 products are being exported. We should be able to produce everything what we want locally.”

“Unlike major tea producing countries like India and China, Sri Lanka allocates only four per cent of its production for local consumption. China produced 970 million kilos of tea last year but they only export 285 million kilos“ Jayaratne said.

Trade Unions and some political parties are not content with what they have and are clamouring for more, but they do not utter a single word on how they could get involved in the promotion of productivity .

The world tea prodution is 15 per cent below the demand which could easily be exploited by Sri Lanka if proper strategies are followed, he said. Jayaratne said the Ministry expects to encourage plantation companies and tea smallholders on recultivation. Tea company representatives said the tea industry is burdened with high cost of production and labour shortage.

There is acute shortage of experienced hands in tea plucking and the yonger generation shows reluctance to work in tea cultivation.

Sri Lanka Tea Board officials also spoke.