Govt. to provide free tea plants to potential growers from next year: Plantation Minister

Tea plants will be provided free of charge to any grower who wishes to engage in tea plantation from next year, Plantation Minister Ramesh Pathirana said in a media briefing today.

He said, according to the current system, it takes nearly four years for the tea bushes to produce yield and therefore, the growers often become discouraged in engaging with the industry.

"The growers have come forward to cultivate tea adopting the new system. "By adopting this plantation method, it will be possible to make a revolutionary change in the tea industry within the next three years," the Minister said.

Tea should be grown on a fresh fertile land and tea therefore plants will be provided free of charge and financial assistance will also be provided for land preparation from next year to encourage every tea grower to engage in tea planting, Mr. Pathirana said.

"It is not possible to get a high yield through traditional methods. As a result, the growers' interest in planting has waned. We must now turn to new methods. Instead of manual tea plucking, we should focus on tea plucking machines. Many countries in the world adopt such new technologies in tea plantation.

We hope to use the barren lands that are not currently used for tea planting when moving towards new plantation methods. Steps will be taken to implement this project from the beginning of next year, "he said.

These methods would bring a revolution in the tea industry of this country, he said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)