The role of the tea estate smallholder’s development societies to improve the productivity of the tea industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

‘Ceylon tea’ has a proud history for 150 years in the foreign market, it takes the position of third foreign income generator in Sri Lanka. Annually, the amount of tea production in Sri Lanka is 349,308kg. This production is from both large states and small tea estate holders. According to the Ministry of Plantation Industry reports in 2018, 76% of small states contributed to national products. The main objective of this research is to examine the contribution of small tea estate holder’s development societies to improve the productivity of the tea industry in Sri Lanka. The researcher has been selected 6 small tea estate holders in Akurana Divisional Secretarial Division in Kandy. As the sample of this study was selected from 60 small tea estate holders using a random sampling method. The methodology of this study based on primary and secondary data. The primary data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. Secondary data were collected from the reports of the Tea Research Institute and Small Tea State Development Authority, websites and books. Those data were analyzed by using Microsoft Excel. In addition to that Google Earth, Arc GIS software was used to study the physical nature of this area through maps. According to the findings, it was confirmed that major contribution to the tea industry from small tea states and majority of them was engaging with small tea holders. But, among those societies, only one society is engaged to build entrepreneurs. And it was found that cultivating a huge density of tea trees in the small land area was affected by using the correct technology and proper harvesting at the correct time, by using the new and correct cultivating method, and re cultivating the tea estate, using fertilizer in the tea estate. It can be increasing the production of small tea holders the implementation of these suggestions will improve the production of the tea industry in Sri Lanka.