Trouble brewing for Sri Lankan tea

Sri Lanka's highly valued tea plantations are under threat from its government's drive to be the world's foremost organic food grower.

Tea farmers believe a disastrous harvest could soon follow President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's earlier ban on chemical fertilisers, while farmers of cinnamon, pepper and staples such as rice are also fearful of crop failures.

Herman Gunaratne, a master tea maker, was picked, along with 45 other specialists, to steer the government's organic revolution. Now he is fearful of what the future holds for tea producers.

Herman Gunaratne: "It is the urea and the nitrogen content that forces the growth of the tea bud and of the green leaf. Without it you can, you can expect a decline in production by as much as 50%."

Sri Lanka has been hit hard by the pandemic. Previous years of economic growth were wiped out by successive waves of Coronavirus, resulting in last year's dramatic fall in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of three percent.

Attempting to tackle the problems caused by a deficit of foreign currency, the government has ceased importing vital products including fertilisers and pesticides.

The inevitable drop in tea output will only exacerbate the economic crisis facing the country, according to Gunaratne.

Herman Gunaratne: "So it is going to number one, make a big dent in the foreign exchange earnings of the country. Number two, it is going to render a great part of our population unemployed and number three and more importantly, we are going to lose the global image that we had for Ceylon Tea."

Following disagreements over the government's scheme to go100 percent organic, Gunaratne was dismissed from its task force.

Generating in excess of $1.25 billion, tea is Sri Lanka's primary earner , and Gunaratne, whose Virgin White tea fetches $2000 a kilo, insists moving to organic will cause a 50 percent reduction in tea yield.

Herman Gunaratne: "We are not going to get 50% higher prices. And there is an extremely limited market for organic tea in the world. There is no way in which it can compensate for the decline in crop." View Less