Tea output down by 20% due to weedicide ban

Non- use of weedicides, due to a ban on glyphosate, is expected to see tea production falling by 20 per cent this year mainly in Regional Plantation Companies ( RPCs), Planters Association Chairman Sunil Poholiyadde told the Business Times on Thursday.

Tea production in 2016 was 292.6 million kg generating export earnings of Rs.176, 232 million from an export volume of 280.9 million kg. Tea production had dropped last year compared to 2015 as well with the production at 328.8 million kg. He noted that due to the ban on weedicides, the fertilizer application was getting restricted.

Despite the weather improvements this year compared to 2016 the non- availability of weedicides has resulted in the inability of the planters to maintain the ground conditions due to which fertilizer application was restricted.

Commenting further on the ban, the chairman pointed out “We are hopeful that there would be an alternate way of ” spraying weedicides.

In this respect, the Tea Research Institute (TRI) is expected to come up with an alternate method of applying weedicide which the industry is eagerly awaiting.

Mr. Poholiyadde said the drop in crop would be experienced mainly from the RPCs since the small- holders would be able to manage due to the limited size of their lands compared to the larger plantations. He noted that upto now there were no solutions being worked out by the relevant authorities on how to commercially manage the larger estates in the wake of the ban on weedicides. Glyphosate was popular among planters due to its effectiveness and low cost involved in weeding the estates.