‘Red Blight’ appears in Kalutara tea and rubber
The authorities who focused their attention on media reports of an unidentified blight that is ruining tea and rubber plantations and home garden crops especially in Agalawatta, Matugama and Bulathsinhala in the Kalutara district, met on the instruction of Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasinghe at the Agalawatta public auditorium. Several senior officials of the agricultural and plantation sectors also attended this meeting.
The Daily Mirror had on August 06 highlighted this danger facing tea smallholders and farmers.
Addressing the participants at the meeting the OIC of the Nivitigalakele Tea Research Institute in Matugama, Aaron Jayaweera said tea cultivation in several areas of the Kalutara district has been affected by the blight caused by a fungus that on infection turns tea leaves red. “However tea and rubber smallholders must not entertain unnecessary fears about the blight which can be brought under control by using fungicides that do not affect productivity as some imagine. Tea smallholders and farmers must consult instructors of the Tea Research Institute for further advice and how to use the chemicals,” he said.
The Regional Manager of the Tea Smallholdings Authority T.M.Somasiri said the authorities have launched a public aware- ness campaign on the blight and the methods to bring it under control.
Chairman of the Tea Research Institute Dr. Jerry Jayawardene, Director Dr. Sarath Abeysinghe and Kalutara Govt. Agent U.D.C.Jayalal attended the meeting.