The government will set up a Rs 500 million special fund to provide loans at low interest rates to new tea small holders, said former State Minister of Tea Industry Development, Kanchana Wijesekera.
He said that the Ministry will obtain funds from the private and government sectors, state banks, Tea Board and private sector-based tea stakeholders to set up this fund. “We hope to provide these loans through state banks at a single digit interest rates with a 18 month grace period enabling the tea small holders to wait until such time tea is plucked in and revenue starts flowing in. We will also introduce a special insurance package along with the loan scheme to ensure against any loss to the plantation,” Wijesekera further commented.
“By implementing this loan scheme, people who want to start planting tea but don’t have access to credit or lands get both. We have observed that the younger generation is moving out of the Plantation sector and we hope they will make use of this Loan Scheme to get involved in the tea Plantation sector,” he observed further.
He said the Ministry has observed that there is a lot of barren land with the State Plantations Companies and hope to provide between 2-5 acres each to new Tea Small Holders in a bid to create more new Tea Small Holders. New Planters who obtain land under this proposed project too would be entitled to this loan scheme.
He further commented, “We are looking at establishing a new designation Named “Tea Technician.” This will be targeted towards retaining the youth who has ideas of working abroad. We will be looking to retain the youth by providing them a higher identity which will boost the self-fulfillment as they will be trained, educated and with a new identity for themselves. Taking the Tea Auction online has also been a giant leap towards the new era of the Tea industry.”
“We are in the discussion stage where we are looking to introduce tea and plantation growing in to the local syllabus as a means of giving an introduction to plantation at an early stage in a child’s life. I believe giving an introduction may open up new carrier prospects for the children when they grow up and will also help with attracting them towards the tea other plantation industries.”
“‘Tea Tourism’” is a new concept we were working on during our short spell at the State Ministry. This new concept is will be implemented to attract the younger generation in to a tea based tourism concept. Underutilized medium sized land plots will be utilized in this concept. This concept will bring most youngsters in the low grown areas where they can make use of the picturesque areas of the Southern Province as well as all the tea growing areas.
We will be discussing this further with the Ministry of Tourism, the Hoteliers’ Association and the Department of Ayurveda to implement various tourist attractions such as Boutique Hotels, Ayurveda spas and Tea Plucking and Processing Experience Centers. This will raise the individual income levels to a new height in those areas.”
Wijesekera, hailing from Matara, said that this project would not be practical without a supply of plants.
“Hence, we have already initiated implementing a new 500 Nursery Planting Programme as well under the Tea Small Holdings Authority. This will give up to five hundred and twenty million new plants for the re-plantation of the nation’s requirement.”
The former State Minister of Tea Industries Development also identified that providing quality fertilizer as and when needed was a great necessity and would ensure that this aspect would be addressed.
He also identified that most of the tea trees are aging and a new replanting scheme is needed. This will enable to increase production and this scheme is already in progress.
“Another programme that needs a push is the growing of cash crops such as pepper and vanilla in tea plantations and we are addressing this. This will mitigate the loss of incomes until the tea plantation is up to the plucking stage. Once it reaches the plucking stage the income will be very generous especially comparing with the current pricing.”
“The Ministry is also looking at introducing the planting of high value commercial timber in tea plantations in order to give more value to the growers,” stated the former Minister.
Former State Minister Wijesekera said that due to various taxes and various other issues over 200 tea factories were closed down during the previous government and the new government has already started a programme to offer them credit to restart these factories. This programme is still in progress.
“We initiated this programme and as a result the Tea Promotional Levy was taken off from the 1st of July 2020 as a temporary measure to help the exporters cover the heavy expenses incurred during the lockdown. Here, we also would like to mention that the only industry operated successfully during the Covid lock down was the Tea Industry. This was purely due to the quick decisions we had to make in order to assist the exporters, growers and the factories to continue the business. Whilst doing so we strictly adhered to the Health Authority guidelines and followed the instructions of the Sri Lanka Police and the armed forces. I also take this opportunity to thank the armed forces and the Police for helping us immensely during the lockdowns.”
“During the Covid lockdowns we managed to take the Tea Auction online and this also resulted in receiving the highest ever recorded price we have received in the history.”
“The government is also keen to ensure that local exporters obtain the GI certification in order to give our brand a new leaf of confidence to prove our brand sovereignty. This will eliminate the major problem of other origin teas claiming that they are Ceylon Tea. This will enhance the marketability of the Sri Lankan teas in the global market which will help us obtain higher prices in the international market.”
“The Covid 19 pandemic would not be there for many more months and this is the time for plantation companies to invest on adding infrastructure to cater to tea tourism and get on board with the various other plans we have.”
“For the first time in history, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointing a separate State Minister for the development of the tea industry itself shows how much of an emphasis is given to the tea industry. It also proves that the government has considered this of utmost importance and is willing to put in that extra work to develop the two hundred and fifty billion rupee industry in to new heights and will savor it for future generations,” Former State Minister Wijesekera stated in conclusion.
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