Sri Lanka’s tea production has been dropped dramatically during the first quarter of the year. The Ministry of Plantation said the production has dropped by 40.9 % compared to the first quarter of the last year. The three main reasons for this dramatic drop in tea production were the decreasing demand in the world market, dry weather conditions and the reduced fertilizer usage by 16% due to higher cost, the Ministry pointed out.

As a result of the prolonged drought that affected most of the tea growing areas in the country some of the tea plants have died reducing the tea crop. According to the statistics released by the government, the entire tea production in the first quarter of the 2008 was 8,350 kilograms. The production has dropped to 4,880 kilograms this year.

The Ministry sources pointed out that the tea production in hill country, low country and middle section has dropped by 31.3%, 38.2%, 46.5% respectively. -- Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka)