Tea Q. 52 (1), 5-12, 1983. Printed in Sri Lanka 

TECHNOLOGICAL INPUTS AND PRODUCTION TRENDS 
OF TEA IN SRI LANKA 

P. Sivapalan 

(Director, Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka) 

INTRODUCTION 

The main function of the Tea Research Institute is to carry out research into 
all aspects associated with the growing of tea and the processing of the harvest 
into the finished product ready for consumption. The past achievements of this 
Institute are too numerous and sometimes too technical to discuss here. There 
is always more to be done especially when the Industry is facing serious problems 
as it is these days. This Institute has several research projects on its hands, which 
would result in much benefit to the industry. The broad objectives of such research 
programmes are: (a) increasing productivity; (b) reducing expenditure and thereby 
obtaining greater efficiency of production and increased profits; (c) improving 
existing manufacture techniques to produce better teas more efficiently than is 
done at present; (d) devising new techniques to produce fundamentally new types 
of teas and tea-based products from inferior grades and waste teas for new markets. 

The ultimate objective of having such a Research Institute is to aid the effi­
ciency and development of the tea industry and thus this Institute has the primary 
-function of disseminating the information gained from Research and Development 
activities to the actual growers in-charge of tea plantations who are in turn res­
ponsible to ensure the implementation of such findings. The achievements of the 
Institute'would only be of academic interest unless the practical recommendations 
which stem from research findings are conveyed to, and implemented on the estates. 

In order to disseminate the knowledge gained from research and to maximize 
the benefits from research to the industry, the Institute has given the highest prio­
rity to its Extension Service. The Institute's staff maintain close contact with the 
planting community by way of correspondence, visits to estates, addressing Plan­
ters' Meetings, conducting Field Days, participation in Symposia, Conferences 
and Exhibitions. Estate Superintendents, Managers and Agricultural Advisers 
are always welcome to visit the Institute and its Stations and discuss their problems 
with the relevant staff. The publication of the scientific journal "The Tea Quar­
terly", the lay-journal "The Tea Bulletin", Monographs, Advisory Pamphlets and 
Advisory Circulars, etc. are other means of transmitting the recommendations 
of the TRI to the industry. 

The over hundred-year old industry has for several decades been the main 
stay of this country's economy and still is. The Tea Research Institute is con­
scious of its role and always endeavours to give of its best to this gigantic industry. 
Today, the industry is no doubt facing almost a crisis perpetrated by a diversity 
of causes, and this would pose fresh problems. The ever changing problems will 
have to be resolved and the solving of such problems often take time and money. 
The technology that is being presently transferred to the industry is the outcome 

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of research that has been carried out over the past two decades of so: 'What the 
Institute is presently carrying out would be the technology that will be transferred 
in the future, in the forthcoming decade or so. New problems have to be resolved 
with meticulous care and patience. The Institute cannot offer instant solutions 
and one should not view this Institute as an organization that serves as a panacea 
to resolve instantly the multitude of complex problems that may arise through neglect 
and non-implementation of sound agronomic practices. 

The changing trends in the industry 

When one examines the figures on production of Sri Lankan teas over the 
last 10 to IS years, a definite decline in total production is observed. This decline 
could be attributed to a shortfall in total production brought about by a multitude 
of factors. It is also well known that a significant extent of tea land has gone out 
of production, and a fairly large extent of tea acreage is being under-cultivated in 
the different tea growing areas. Whatever the cause may be the fact remains that 
the total production has declined from the highest production we ever achieved 
in 196S, amounting to 228 million kgs, to around 185 million kgs in 1982 which 
amounts to an average decline rate of 2.5 million kg. If replanting has been going 
on the way it was anticipated, by selecting the right lands for such operations and 
by maintaining high standards of after-care, and at the same time if renovations 
of old seedling fields had been continued by proper infilling, we should have made a 
positive progress from the yield we obtained in 1965 and over this almost 20-year 
period we should have well surpassed the 325 million kg mark, with an annual, 
growth rate of 5.5 million kg. What is sad to note is that despite replanting 
programmes over fairly extensive areas, the yield trend has been on the decline. 
It is even sadder to note that some of the replanted areas are being uprooted for 
further replanting in some of the areas since of late. r 

No one is yet certain about the economic life span of tea, let alone of clonal tea. 
Yet, it is also known that following replanting it takes several years to reach the-
break-even point of cost inputs and this period is somewhere around 14 to : 18' years.: 
It is beyond this period that the field becomes a viable economic entity and one 
should maintain such fields at this economic productivity level for at least another 
15 years or so. On this basis one would guess that the economic life span of a fast 
growing high yielding clonal tea field would be around 30 years, if not more.r 

The most striking way of increasing yields per acre is to replant with selected 
clonal tea. The emphasis hitherto has been on high yields and consequently the 
important selection criterion for clonal selection had been high productivity. It-
is also a known fact that the high yielding clones are sensitive to other adverse fac-'< 
tors .such as pest incidence, disease occurrence and drought. With the recurrent; 
droughts experienced over the last few years those high yielding fields have suffered' 
to a great extent year after year. However, the impact of the drought on such' 
replanted areas could have been minimized if sound agronomic practices had been' 
adopted on time, as recommended by the TRI. One certainly cannot prevent 
the occurrence of a drought, whilst on the other hand, what we could do is to mini­
mize .the impact of drought on the plants. The recent experience has shown that 
vast extents of clonal tea fields have suffered extensive damage on account of 
recurrent droughts. Land selection for replanting had not been done in the proper: 
manner and consequently marginal areas have been replanted. . Another basic' 
shortcoming has been the poor quality of the planting material itself. The proper > 
adoption of a programme of after-care is again a critical factor to minimize the' 
impact of drought. 

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It. is often said and the blame is placed right at the doorstep of the TRI that 
the removal of shade trees, which was suggested by the Institute many years ago, 
has been the single main factor that has contributed to decline. It would be futile 
to continue blaming the removal of shade trees for all the ills confronting the tea 
industry. The TRI has in no uncertain terms stressed upon the replanting of shade 
in tea fields, since early 1970s. Unfortunately this programme has not been 
taken seriously over the years.. The planting of shade trees and the maintenance 
of proper watersheds is absolutely important for minimizing the effects of drought 
in tea. Mulching and thatching of new clearings is again an important cultural, 
operation that needs'to be carried out to reduce the 'mpact of droughts. The mere 
planting of drought tolerant clones would not be the answer to resolve this prob­
lem. No doubt the selection of drought tolerant clones would be an important 
step in the right direction but what is most critical is the adoption of the right cul­
tural practices to reduce the impact of drought. This Institute' has recommended 
several clones that are inherently tolerant to drought. Drought tolerant clones 
generally are modest yielders and consequently have not been utilized by 
the plantation sector to any large extents. No one in the world has ever produced 
a super clone that has all the best attributes. One has to strike a balance between 
yield, drought tolerance, disease tolerance, pest tolerance and in the high country, 
in particular, • quality. 

Since of late the question has often been asked whether clones can be substi­
tuted by seedlings, especially bi-clonal seedlings or poly-clonal seedlings. It should 
be appreciated that such seedling stock vary very widely genetically. The progeny 
would not obviously be identical to each other and their reaction to drought would" 
therefore be variable. It would be advisable to think in terms of a uniform planting 
by using drought tolerant clones and here again a mixed stand of drought tolerant 
clones should be used in blocks. The TRI nevertheless has not dismissed the 
idea of using bi-clonal or poly-clonal seedlings in the future and experiments are 
to be carried out with the possibility of resorting to the good old practice of planting' 
vigorous seedling stumps selected from bi-clonal or poly-clonal progeny. 

An accelerated replanting programme is possible, and would be readily accept­
able to the industry, under the protective umbrella of a steady upward trend in 
production. Such an expectation .is difficult under the prevailing climate of a 
downward trend in production unless propped up by outside funding agencies,̂  
as is being done at present. There is reason to believe, however, that for a time' 
it may still be biologically possible to increase production per acre, even without' 
replanting. The staggering increases in production from early 1950s up to 1965, 
with an average annual increase of 6.5 million kg, was essentially due'to greater 
inputs of balanced NPK fertilizer mixtures. Fertilizer dosage is the factor by means 
of which large and quick results could be achieved and no other single factor could 
be so effectively used. 

An additional way is to fill in the gaps in tea fields and increase the population 
of productive bushes per hectare by adopting a properly worked out infilling pro­
gramme. Much headway has been made with regard to crop protection, espe­
cially in the area of pest management using an integrated approach. The devas­
tations brought about by the live-wood tea termite in the low-country areas is very 
well known to everyone. Our studies over the last 10 years have clearly established 
the fact that this problem was created artificially by several factors. The planting 
of high yielding clonal varieties that were extremely susceptible to die-back and 
wood-rot has been assessed to be as one of the main causes for having opened up 
large numbers of avenues for termite entry. This has been further accentuated 
by the large scale use of straight nitrogenous fertilizers. The removal of the 
medium-cover shade trees in the low-country has further accentuated the problem. 

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This problem that has emerged over the years due to changes in cultural practices 
cannot be solved overnight and recommendations have been put forward by this 
Institute to manage this pest purely by an integration of good agronomic practi­
ces. Clones have been identified that are resistant to die-back and wood-rot. The 
planting of Gliricidia has been shown to be beneficial in cushioning the attack on 
the tea. The application of wound dressings on prune cuts has been demonstrated 
to reduce the setting in of wood-rot. The application of modest levels of nitroge­
nous fertilizers with a balanced input of potash is also recommended. The timely 
elimination of old infested seedling fields which serve as "sources of swarmers" 
in the vicinity of newly planted areas, is another important recommendation that 
needs to be adopted without delay. One of the most important cultural operation 
with regard to termite management is pruning. The adoption of a light cut across 
type of prune with very little sanitary measures had been again one of the primary 
causes for the high incidence of termites in the low-country. This Institute has 
been recommending the adoption of a sanitary prune since 1972. Unfortunately 
a sanitary prune has been misunderstood as a drastic low prune. This is not so. 
A proper sanitary prune is one where an adequate amount of cleaning is carried 
out carefully and if the bush has suffered a significant extent of die-back and rot 
over several cycles, this cleaning cannot be achieved in one operation and it has 
to be phased out over more than two, sometimes three cycles. Badly debilitated 
bushes have to be uprooted and infilled on time. 

The adoption of an integrated approach using mainly cultural practices in the 
control of tea pests is a novel approach that the Institute has evolved over the last 
decade. Prior to this, control measures were heavily based on the use of toxic 
chemicals. We have to be mindful not only of not disrupting the environment 
but also of residues that will remain in the manufactured tea. Research into pest 
management is proceeding in this direction. It is no doubt easy to screen various 
forms of toxic chemicals to controbpests temporarily, but our attitude has changed 
from this thinking. 

The institute is also concentrating on product diversification. The tea has been 
sold in its traditional form as black tea in tea chests from inception. The TRI 
is now diverting its attention to develop other tea-based products especially from 
low value teas and waste teas. There is a very high potential for export of such 
commodities, thus supplementing the income from the sale of the orthodox black 
tea that is traditionally exported. Modernization of factory machinery is another 
area where the Institute is diverting its attention. Most of you are well aware 
of the development of the Fluid Bed Tea Drier that has revolutionized the process 
of drying by cutting of fuel consumption by almost half. Process Engineering 
Technology is now receiving a high priority. 

A greater emphasis is being laid on the development of the Advisory and Exten­
sion Service. As said at the beginning whatever research findings that the Institute 
could offer to the industry will have to be transmitted effectively. Over the last 
two years a greater emphasis has been laid on the development of an audio-visual 
programme for the benefit of planters as well as smallholders. Expensive equip­
ment have since of late been procured and these are being commissioned for use 
at Seminars, Symposia, Field-days and at Meetings for Smallholders. 

The immediate solution 
The steady decline in tea production and the falling prices in real terms foi 

tea in world markets is causing grave concern. What is within our immediate 
scope is to arrest the decline in production and every effort should therefore be made 
towards arresting the decline in production and increasing the output. 

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Approximately 60% of the tea lands is now under the ownership of the two 
State Sector Corporations — the JEDB and SLSPC. Attention should initially 
be focussed on the rehabilitation of estates owned by these -organizations. As 
certain essential development strategies can be adopted only undei a protective 
umbrella of rising crops or during a boom period of rising prices (in real terms), 
the present situation does not lend itself for embarking on such an ambitious pro­
gramme unless propped up by external funding Agencies. It is fortunate that the 
Government has been able to obtain financial assistance from International Lending 
Agencies to cover the bulk of the costs of a Medium-Term Investment Programme. 

The initial phase of a careful investment planning has already been done jointly 
by the National Planning Division of the Ministry of Finance and Planning and 
both the State Sector Corporations. The Tea Research Institute should be actively 
engaged in developing operational strategies for implementation of the development 
programme. One way of achieving this goal is through proper representation 
and active participation at the policy decision level that controls the actual imple­
mentation. The Institute should be viewed not merely as an Advisory Body or 
as an "appendage" of the Plantation.Sector but as an essential integral component 
of this Sector, especially during periods of implementation of such massive deve­
lopment programmes.- c 

There was reason to believe that for a certain period of time it would still be 
biologically possible to increase production per hectare in Sri Lanka, even without 
replanting (Fig. 1). As mentioned earlier, fertilizer dosage is a factor by means of 
which large and quick results could be achieved and no other single factor could, be 
so effectively used. This was the case in the 1950s when the T 500 series balanced 
fertilizers were used (Fig. 2), and in 1960s when the balanced T 700 series fertilizers 
were used widely and.it was during this decade that we reached the highest pro­
duction level ever of 228 m kg, in 1965 (Fig. 3). This was approximately 20 years 
ago. The Fertilizer induced increases on such old tea may have since begun to 
fade out? . 

Approximately one-third of Sri Lanka's tea is over 90 years old and another 
third is between 70 to 90 years old. Nobody yet knows what the economic life of 
a tea bush is! It could well be that around a third of the tea acreage presently in 
bearing has already passed this stage? Unless such areas are soon replanted (if 
the land is yet suited for tea) and the remaining fields renovated by a properly worked, 
out programme of consolidation by infilling, we would be in real danger of entering 
an even steeper declining phase (Fig. 4). 

However, the old seedling tea will continue to form the bulk of the country's 
acreage for a long time to come. One way of arresting this tendency to decline is 
by making each bush that survives to yield more. This would be possible as long 
as such bushes are yet within the economic life span and this has been the basis of 
the large increases obtained in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s (Fig. 1, 2 and 3). With 
increasing age, however, we cannot expect this trend to continue for too long. 

The early tea was planted at low density and many gaps have appeared in it. 
One positive way of increasing yields is by filling in the gaps in the tea with vigorous 
high yielders. This practice of field consolidation had virtually ceased in most parts 
of the tea growing areas. Besides yielding low, such fields with low populations of 
bushes and with vacancies have lent themselves to massive erosion of good topsoil— 
which loss had been further accentuated by the removal of shade trees in the mid 
1960s. 

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An immediate and practical means of arresting this trend in decline could be 
worked out by a combination of a programme of increasing bush population in 
every good seedling tea field along with a carefully worked out replanting programme 
(under the protective umbrella' of external funding agencies) coupled with a steady 
and properly worked out fertilizer programme, based on yield potentials. Such a 
programme would be sufficient to arrest the current declining trend and .perhaps 
even lead to a rising trend until replanting can take over the burden of progress. 
The provision of a subsidy to clear the huge backlog of infilling operations is cer­
tainly a step.in the right direction. 

Once a rising trend in production level is achieved and costs fall within manage­
able limits, replanting could be accelerated under the shelter of such rising crops. 
Such an opportunity did once present itself .in the late 1950s. It is a matter for 
regret that maximum exploitation of such an opportunity was not made and in 
certain areas where this situation was exploited, replanting operations turned out 
to be a failure on account of poor land selection. Let us not repeat such mistakes 
and look forward with optimism. 

Fertilizer accounts for as much as 12% of the total cost of production. The 
use of balanced fertilizer mixtures at the correct times for application becomes very 
critical. In order to obtain meaningful economic returns of crop for such an expen­
sive input, the quantum of application should be based strictly on yield potentials of 
the respective fields, in the respective years of a pruning cycle. The maintenance 
of a high standard of supervision to ensure good distribution of this expensive com­
modity is most essential. 

The most critically important step in tea production is plucking, upon which 
everything else depends to ensure the production of a standard quality product. 
This operation is labour-intensive and absorbs around 70% of the total labour 
requirements and accounts for as much as 18 % of the total cost of production. As 
this is a very demanding and skilled operation, the employment of skilled labour 
with very good supervision is a critical step in the implementation of the overall 
development programme. 

A very important component in the immediate programme of work should be 
an accelerated programme of planting of the right species of shade trees and the 
establishment of water sheds. With the cost of liquid fuel for tea drying already 
accounting for 11 to 12% of the total cost of production, the planting of fuel-wood 
tree species becomes another critical area to concentrate and develop. We are fast 
reaching the stage when it would be impossible to use liquid fossil fuels for drying 
our teas and all our factories should be converted to solid fuels. Each factory should 
be self-sufficient in the supply of firewood and to attain this the projected acreage 
under such tree species should be around at least 20% of the area in tea, programmed 
on a regional basis, if not on an estate basis. 

The installation and maintenance of proper machinery in the factory is important 
to ensure the manufacture of a good quality product. Sri Lanka's image as a steady 
supplier of high quality teas has been eroded since of late and this situation has to 
be remedied soon before the buyers adapt themselves and become adjusted to other 
producer countries. 

The cost of traditional packaging in wooden chests accounts for as much as 
5 to 6% of the total cost of production and the procurement of timber for such 
packaging is also posing problems. The development of alternate packaging is 
another area of research that needs intensfication 

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The above programmes should all be implemented within the shortest possible 
period. Since of late, the paucity of implementation of the recommendations made 
by the TRI have been attributed to financial constraints. The timely adoption of 
the Medium-Term Investment Programme with large investments made with financial 
assistance from international lending agencies is indeed a long stride in .the right 
direction to arrest this alarming downward trend in production. 

Much "infilling" and "replanting" needs to be done amongst the plantation and 
scientific manpower as well. Positive rejuvenation of manpower resources to an 
active productive phase is possible only through incentives of attractive remunera­
tions and fringe benefits. This has to go on alongside field operations. We cannot 
afford to ignore this aspect any longer and must necessarily integrate all these aspects 
into a package programme to achieve the desired results. 

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