Current issues in the farm sector of the tea industry in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka holds a substantial place in the global tea market as a leading tea producer and exporter. Around 5% of the total global tea production comes from Sri Lanka; the world’s fourth largest producer and the third largest exporter covering about 15% of global exports in recent few years (International Tea Committee 2019). The Sri Lankan tea industry provides livelihood for many people in the country and plays a significant role in the economy (Thushara 2015; Shyamalie 2015b). The green-leaf production sector plays a critical role in enhancing competitiveness of the industry in the global market by determining the levels of national productivity. Recently, competitiveness has declined sharply (Hilal and Mubarak 2016). Under these conditions, the aim of this paper is to investigate current issues in the green leaf production sector of the tea industry in Sri Lanka and the challenges they are causing. The two green-leaf producer groups, private growers and estates, face common and different issues deriving from their scale of operation and characteristics of each group. Stagnant and shrinking areas under tea cultivation, low land and labour productivity, labour shortages and increasing costs of production, are the key issues seen frequently in the producer sector for some years now (Jayasuriya 1998; Ganewatte and Edward 2000; Kasturiratne and Poole 2006; Wijayasiri 2013; Thushara 2015; Shyamalie 2015b; Wekumbura et al. 2017). Strategic approaches to mitigate the occurrence and effects of the range of factors identified as adversely affecting the tea production sector of the tea industry in Sri Lanka warrant consideration by decision makers and policymakers to ensure the continuing competitiveness and sustainability of the Ceylon tea industry.