Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Plantations announced that it is aiming to increase tea export incomes by 78% from earnings recorded last year and an increase in production by 52.5% by 2030, through the standardisation of Ceylon teas globally, a statement released by the Department of Government Information said.

“The Tea Development and Plantation Policy Division of the Ministry of Plantations and Community Infrastructure is working to introduce a reliable standardisation of Ceylon Tea that will protect its brand name internationally and ensure its naturalness and quality,” the statement said.

“Under this, it is expected to increase Sri Lanka’s tea production to 400 million kilogrammes within the next five years and increase the income generated from it to $ 2.5 billion.”

In 2024, Sri Lanka’s total tea production was recorded at 262.16 million kilogrammes - a marginal 2.4% increase in production from the 256 million kilogrammes recorded in 2023.

In the same year, earnings from tea exports also showed a marginal increase of 9% from the previous year’s earnings, at $ 1.43 billion. Earlier this year, the Tea Board of India reported that India surpassed Sri Lanka’s yearly tea exports by 24 million kilogrammes.

Industry persons attribute the low production to substantial setbacks in policy and government intervention ever since the industry was faced with the fertiliser crisis, and forebodingly awaits the removal of the SVAT voucher system later on in the year.

The standardisation process is to include the implementation of internationally recognised sustainability farming practices, regenerative agricultural practices, forest-degradation-free farming practices and zero-carbon industrial practices, the statement said.

It concluded that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the standardisation had been signed a year prior, between the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Community Infrastructure, with a progress discussion having been held last Friday (16).