Ceylon Tea is becoming more expensive to buy and is facing stiff competition from highly subsidised countries like Kenya and India and to add to its troubles the herbicide glyphosate remains banned under the new gazette published last week. Plantations Association Spokesman and Hayleys Plantations Managing Director Dr. Roshan Rajadurai said that in the absence [...]

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Ceylon Tea has no subsidy, no glyphosate

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Ceylon Tea is becoming more expensive to buy and is facing stiff competition from highly subsidised countries like Kenya and India and to add to its troubles the herbicide glyphosate remains banned under the new gazette published last week.

Plantations Association Spokesman and Hayleys Plantations Managing Director Dr. Roshan Rajadurai said that in the absence of glyphosate they cannot continue commercial operations and the crop yields and quality will drop and workers will lose work.

He noted that already the plantations are under a tremendous loss and that glyphosate has not been brought in or issued by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). The CPC is the state agency that has been allowed to carry out distribution of the stocks of glyphosate solely to the tea and rubber sectors since 2018.

Dr. Rajadurai explained that without weedicides and fungicides it will become impossible to manage the situation on the plantations and asserted “it will come to a natural stop.”

Asia Siyaka Commodities Managing Director/CEO Anil Cooke pointed out that a decline in the quality of made tea is evident today and that the black tea appearance and in some instances the taste too has been affected and on the flipside the percentage of lower quality teas is increasing.

Prices are moving on an ad hoc manner “but it looks like much of the value that was available through depreciation of the rupee is being mopped up by the shipping companies through the ridiculously high freight rates and the number of ship container shortages,” he explained.

Mr. Cooke noted that though some plantation companies were able to apply limited fertiliser and not as much as they wanted to, but overall the adequate fertiliser needs have not been met.

Under the current scenario looking at Kenya where the subsidy to the farmers have been increased by their governments, the yields per hectare are higher and the availability is significantly much higher, Sri Lanka faces stiff competition.

On the other hand even India and Vietnam are being assisted by their governments to engage in the plantations.

“Rest of the world is not looking at their businesses through the same prism as we do and they are applying the same supply and demand factors,” Mr. Cooke said.

Conversely, Sri Lanka is “standing out and might look more costly compared to the other major exporters.”

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