The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure

¶ 01 Chair, the answers are as follows.

¶ 02 (a)(i) Contribution of tea smallholders to total tea production (made tea) from 2015 to date is tabled.

¶ 03 Table tabled: Year | Total made tea (Mn kg) | Smallholder made tea (Mn kg) | Smallholder share (%) 2015 | 307.72 | 239.86 | 78.0 2016 | 292.41 | 218.07 | 74.6 2017 | 307.72 | 232.417 | 75.6 2018 | 303.944 | 228.049 | 75.0 2019 | 300.133 | 225.728 | 75.2 2020 | 278.489 | 205.666 | 73.9 2021 | 299.338 | 223.197 | 74.6 2022 | 251.499 | 189.734 | 75.4 2023 | 256.088 | 190.660 | 74.4 2024 | 262.150 | 197.150 | 75.2

¶ 04 (ii) As at 31.12.2024, the estimated number of tea smallholders is 418,989.

¶ 05 (iii) Five government institutions deal with tea smallholders: 1. Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure 2. Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) 3. Sri Lanka Tea Board 4. Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka (TRI) 5. National Plantation Management Institute

¶ 06 (v) The detailed functions of each institution to uplift smallholders are lengthy; with your permission, I table the rest of the answer.

¶ 07 Rest of the Answer tabled: - Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure: - Policy formulation and decisions for the plantation sector; coordination of affiliated institutions; regulatory frameworks; promoting village-level tea cultivation; supervising input distribution (fertilizer, plants); overseeing development programmes for smallholders; smallholder credit schemes; addressing short- and long-term needs; development of two mobile applications for small and medium-scale growers.

¶ 08 - Tea Small Holdings Development Authority: - Replanting grant: Rs. 630,000 per hectare (max 4 ha per applicant). - New planting grant: Rs. 500,000 per hectare (limited to 1 acre per applicant). - Crop rehabilitation: Rs. 100 per plant up to 1,000 plants per acre (max 1 ha per applicant). - Fertilizer subsidy: Rs. 4,000 per 50 kg bag. - Regulation and supervision of institutional and private commercial nurseries; maintenance of model plots; extension and advisory services; grower training; individual extension; pH testing; clean plucking initiatives at society/cluster level; joint programmes with private sector; distribution of technical handbooks; dissemination via social media.

¶ 09 - Tea Research Institute: - Extension via training TSHDA inspectors; direct advice and extension to smallholders with over 10 acres; awareness and knowledge-sharing programmes with TSHDA; analytical services (soil and plant nutrients, fertilizer, organic matter, soil pH, nematode diagnostics; soil condition assessments for direct replanting); field studies to resolve specific issues; supply of improved clones via mother plant projects; final-stage commercial nursery inspections for quality planting material; circulars, guidelines and publications for recommended agronomy and technologies.

¶ 10 - Sri Lanka Tea Board: - Infrastructure for replanting and productivity improvements; financing nurseries to ensure quality standardized plants to smallholders; training of extension officers; subsidies for plastic crates and nylon bags for green leaf handling; establishing friendly plucking teams and equipment hire centres; district boundary demarcation for green leaf traders; fertilizer distribution via factories to smallholders; mechanization in replanting programmes; small water resource projects; shade-improvement programmes; regulation of tea trading licences of green leaf buyers.

¶ 11 - National Plantation Management Institute: - Capacity-building for smallholders (knowledge, skills, attitudes); entrepreneurship training to enhance supplementary incomes; technical knowledge to increase yields.