Sri Lanka targets to boost tea industry with 20mn high-quality plants annually

Agriculture and Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has directed the Seed and Planting Material Development Centre within the Agriculture Department to annually produce 20 million high-quality tea plants. 
This move stems from the tea industry’s substantial yearly demand for 20 million saplings, essential for new plantations and replanting and the adverse effects of inadequate and substandard tea plants on crop yields and the prevalence of nematode (roundworm) disease in tea plantations.

In response to these concerns, a meeting chaired by Amaraweera took place at the Gannoruwa Service Training Centre, involving officials from the Agriculture Ministry, Agriculture Department and Tea Small Holdings Development Authority.
Currently, the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority requires 20 million tea plants annually. Despite numerous tea growers obtaining plants from nurseries, it has come to light that the quality of tea plants from these sources is seriously compromised by the roundworm disease, leading to the revocation of licences for 20 nurseries. 

To address this issue, there are plans to establish additional 200 tea plantation nurseries, supported by subsidies totalling Rs.490 million.
Consequently, officials from the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority have sought the Agriculture Department’s assistance in producing high-quality tea plants. As a result, the responsibility for generating 20 million tea plants each year has been transferred to the Agriculture Department, with the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority providing the necessary financial allocation for the project.