Who will pluck the tea, tap the rubber and pluck coconuts in the future?
By Raj Gonsalkorale
The plantation industry is a major source of foreign exchange for Sri Lanka, with total annual export earnings of approximately $4-5 billion USD in recent years. The sector contributes around 24% of the country’s total export earnings. In terms of direct and indirect employment, the sector probably provides such employment opportunities to more than 3 million people. This industry may not survive into the future unless the very basics like who will pluck tea, tap rubber and pluck coconuts is addressed. Value adding cannot happen unless these basics are addressed as there will be no raw materials to add value.
One of the major problems faced in the industry even today is the labour shortage related to these basics. While these are key to the survival of the industry, the labour shortage is not limited to these basics. The industry, in particular the tea and rubber industry, requires a significant ground maintenance input of the planted areas like weeding, fertilising, prevention of soil erosion, among others. It is not uncommon to see increasingly large acreages of tea and rubber plantations in neglect while some continue to argue that the more land is needed for the industry if it is to be sustained. It is the optimisation of available land that is important rather than opening up of new land for cultivation. Researchers and industry experts argue that a key strategy to revive the industry is to make the existing, viable land more productive. They rightly argue that this approach is essential because simply expanding the total area is often not feasible or desirable due to land constraints, environmental concerns (e.g., soil erosion), and adding to labour shortages.
With increasing opportunities in education and skills development, the migration of younger persons from plantations to other employment opportunities within Sri Lanka and overseas, is something that’s happening now and contributing to labour shortages in the plantation sector. This situation is bound to aggravate as more and more such opportunities open the doors for this generation. One should wish such persons well for striving for a better life for themselves and their families compared to the far from satisfactory life in plantations they and their forefathers experienced. Industry leaders, politicians, media in general and the general public, could act like Ostriches and bury their heads in the sand oblivious to this issue, or wake up to this significant challenge to the industry on account of the labour shortage, and therefore to the country and its reliance on earnings from the industry, and address this issue from a national perspective considering its criticality to the very survival of the country’s economy.
Data available on key export earnings from major plantation crops for the most recent periods indicate:
Tea: Export earnings were $1.43 billion in 2024. The Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute expects revenue to hit $1.5 billion in 2025.
Rubber: The industry earned around $930 million in 2023, with expectations to reach between $900 million and $1 billion annually. The government has an ambitious plan to boost this to $3 billion by 2025.
Coconut: Coconut-related products earned $836 million in 2022, with similar earnings expected in subsequent years.
Cinnamon and Spices: Earnings from cinnamon, pepper, and other minor crops were about $400 million in 2022 and increased to $600 million in 2023.
The tea industry
A key challenge faced in tea plantations, again, based on data readily available is low worker productivity: Sri Lankan tea worker productivity (around 16-18 kg of green leaf per day) is notably lower than in countries like India (40 kg) and Kenya (60 kg). Productivity is generally different between smallholdings and large estates in the Sri Lankan tea industry, with research suggesting that the smallholder sector is often more productive. For example, a 2022 estimate noted that tea smallholders produced up to 75% of the total tea production utilising about 60 % of the tea growing land area. The focus on land optimization and increased productivity includes strategies such as replanting and infilling, adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), improving soil health, using appropriate fertilization, and implementing proper soil conservation measures, high-density cultivation, utilizing modern planting methods that can yield significantly more tea per hectare on existing land and mechanization by introducing technology and machinery for harvesting and other field activities to overcome labour shortages and reduce costs.
The long-term viability of the industry may also be impacted by anecdotal information that some larger plantation companies inflate their administration costs and resort to retaining foreign exchange earnings overseas. This needs to be investigated in order to ascertain the truth. In general, a view does exist that plantation companies are there for short term profit rather than long term sustainability of plantations and are reticent about their intentions. The future of plantation companies needs to be looked at from the objective of long-term sustainability.
It is understood that the Sri Lankan tea industry operates under strategic planning efforts, often coordinated by the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Tea Research Institute.
While a formal Master Plan” title like the rubber document, there are multi-year strategic plans and roadmaps that address key challenges like declining production, increasing cost of production, low farm productivity, climate change impacts, and quality standards.
The industry focuses on maintaining quality, exploring selective mechanization, and increasing market share through value addition.
Rubber industry
In an incisive article in the Daily FT (https://www.ft.lk/business/Declining-rubber-industry-s-skilled-tapper-shortage-set-to-receive-groundbreaking-support-through-Automated-Rubber-Harvesting-Robots-by-IHT/34-758869) points out some information very relevant to the rubber industry. It points out that the industry is facing dire challenges, especially the drastic declining availability of skilled tappers and the lack of protection from adverse weather conditions. This shortage has led to severe under-tapping and the abandonment of plots, plummeting the rubber output in the country. From 150,000 metric tons (MT) in 2012, Sri Lanka’s rubber output sharply dropped – to below 70,000 MT in 2023. When examining yield per hectare, Sri Lanka’s performance in 2022 stands at 679 kg/ha, contrasting with other leading rubber-producing nations – Thailand achieved 1,469 kg/ha in 2018, while India reached 1,459 kg/ha in 2020. In 2021, Sri Lanka dropped to an alarmingly low 17th position globally in total rubber production. This has led to the rubber industry facing a perilous concern which has yet to be resolved. It is understood that Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure has embarked on developing strategies to address the challenges faced by the industry and identify solutions in discussion with stakeholders. Some of these key actions include:
Developing a New Roadmap: The Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure intends to draft a new roadmap for the period of 2026 to 2035 to address current industry dynamics and future challenges.
Stakeholder Engagement: Initial workshops involving all relevant state institutions, private sector organizations, and policymakers have already been conducted to ensure comprehensive input for the new plan.
While this is laudable, it is hoped that the new road map will include
An assessment of land currently under rubber, a breakdown of its productivity, by district, and reasons for variations, areas neglected and/or abandoned, and options for improvements or alternate cultivations such as coffee, cocoa and other suitable crops.
An assessment of labour availability for tapping, and maintenance, again by district.
Alternate options for more productive use of rubber land. For example, as timber industry.
Mechanisation options for tapping rubber
Coconut Industry
It is understood that the coconut sector has had several strategic initiatives, and a formal roadmap is in development.
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Sri Lanka is actively involved in facilitating the formulation of a comprehensive “Strategic Plan and Roadmap (SP&RM) for Sri Lanka’s coconut sector” to outline actionable initiatives for stakeholders from 2024 onwards. This is designed to guide institutions like the Coconut Development Authority (CDA) and the Coconut Research Institute (CRI).
Past planning efforts have included a Strategic Plan for 2016-2020, which emphasized research on land rehabilitation, soil improvement, and climate mitigation.
The current focus involves improving the productivity of existing plantations and ensuring supply meets the growing global demand for coconut products, as directed by the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure.
While challenges associated with the future of the coconut industry are being considered, including plans to grow a vast acreage (40,000 acres) in the North of the country, it is hoped that future plans will take into consideration the very fundamental challenge as to who and how coconuts will be plucked in the future. A full-grown coconut palm typically reaches an average height of 15 to 18 meters (50 to 60 feet), though some can grow much taller, up to 30 meters (100 feet) and finding coconut plucker’s is a challenge even now. While technology-based methods (including the use of Drones) for the plucking process is considered an option for the future, introducing more dwarf varieties which facilitate easier plucking from the ground, needs to be considered.
Another increasingly widespread challenge in the coconut industry is the theft of coconuts from trees itself. While theft itself does not reduce the output available for consumption in the short term, as what is stolen also finds its way to markets, the losses incurred by the plantation owners, even small holders, will deter them from even continuing in the industry, thus affecting the long-term viability of the industry.
To the best of the writer’s knowledge, the issue of theft and measures that can and should be taken to address it are not mentioned in the various current and long-term plans or in research studies relating to the coconut industry.
Cinnamon and spice industry
As data demonstrates, this industry earns around $ 500- 600 million USD and anecdotal evidence shows that more small holders are turning to this industry from others in some geographical locations within the country. Challenges facing the industry includes a shortage of skilled labour, particularly peelers, leading to low productivity and quality issues. Other challenges are poor infrastructure (like limited transportation and warehousing), a lack of research and development (R&D) support, inadequate extension services for smallholders, and difficulties with value addition, quality control, and market access. Low productivity is another issue arising from a combination of factors, including poor plantation maintenance and the difficulty in harvesting crops on time due to labour shortages. Low quality and value addition: There is a lack of proper processing facilities and awareness of quality parameters, which can lead to a degradation of the final product. The industry also faces challenges in branding and differentiating pure Ceylon cinnamon from the less expensive cassia. A serious long-term risk for the industry is adulteration where pure Ceylon cinnamon is blended with imported cassia damaging the brand image of Ceylon cinnamon.
Conclusion
While it is heartening that each industry is addressing current and future challenges to the industry, it is not certain whether options for addressing labour dependent activities, such as weeding, ground maintenance, fertilizing, plucking, tapping, etc, which incidentally are critical for producing the raw materials in each industry, some for immediate use or consumption, and increasingly for value adding, are being adequately addressed. If this is not done, the industry will decline as a key revenue earner for the country.
Another observation is the apparent lack of interest, even lack of knowledge amongst many ordinary folks and the younger generation about the vital economic and social role played by the industry, and the challenges associated with it.
In this context, it is very opportune for a national dialogue on the future of the plantation industry. In order to depoliticize such a dialogue, it would be ideal if it is spearheaded by the industry itself and not politicians, although the government, the Opposition and all political parties represented in Parliament should be essential participants at such a dialogue. The contribution of experts from other countries engaged in this industry, their experience and knowledge gained through lessons learnt, technological developments and all out of the box lateral thinking should be the theme of such a dialogue. Irrespective of differences between the composites in the plantation industry, what is common to all, namely, land, water, labour and technology and challenges associated with all of this from a futuristic point of view should be the focus of the dialogue. Such a dialogue should not be a one-off talkfest without any solutions being discussed and agreed upon as long-term solutions. Such a dialogue should also include a mechanism to consult with grassroots people and entities, as they are best suited to provide a realistic perspective on problems and then to offer solutions to address such problems. The initial overall plantation industry dialogue could lead to such dialogues within each industry and finally a re-convening of the national dialogue to share inputs from the industries and from the grassroots and to finalise a long term, ideally a ten-year, plan for the plantation industry and its composites.
Finally, it is important to recognize the importance of research and development relating to the basic issues highlighted at the outset such as tea plucking, rubber tapping and coconut plucking, ground maintenance, fertilizing and replanting, as well as in areas like value adding and innovations developed using technological advancements. As per available reports, research and development expenditure for the plantation industry is a composite of the overall agricultural R&D spending. The entire agricultural sector’s R&D is reported as being less than 5% of total public agriculture expenditure, and in 2022, it accounted for 27.89% of the total national R&D expenditure of approximately LKR 25.28 billion (0.10% of GDP). R & D expenditure for the plantation industry is therefore a fraction of the overall R & D expenditure for the agricultural sector. It is further reported that plantation research institutes, such as the Tea Research Institute (TRI), Rubber Research Institute (RRI), and Coconut Research Institute (CRI), have historically faced challenges, including the siphoning away of cess revenues (a tax on plantation crops meant for R&D) to other government purposes.
In essence, while the plantation industry is a vital part of the Sri Lankan economy, R&D funding has been historically inadequate and a small fraction of overall government spending, a situation that experts note needs to be addressed for long-term sustainability and competitiveness. As a way forward option, the national dialogue could establish a policy position that a percentage of foreign exchange earnings from the industries mentioned here, namely, the Tea, Rubber, Coconut and Cinnamon and Spices, should be allocated for research and development in these industries.
Comments are closed.
Read more: here.