The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna
Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna said tea cess has been remitted to the Treasury since 2011 and that the Government is prepared to discuss with the Finance Ministry a support programme for both smallholders and large estates. He noted that smallholders now produce over 75 per cent of national tea output, but many lands require costly replanting or infilling, while 21 Government-leased estates include fallow and under-replanted sections that the Government intends to revitalize. He also stated that fertilizer backlogs affecting the sector have been cleared, and that assistance from Russia, including 27,500 MT of MOP allocated to his Ministry, will be used for tea and coconut lands, including Government coconut estates that had lacked fertilizer for five years.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Since 2011, tea cess goes to the Treasury; the Tea Board’s expenditures are met through other funds, not cess. As a Government, we are ready to discuss with the Finance Ministry to devise a program to support smallholders and large estates. Over 75% of national output now comes from smallholders; many fields are overaged and need replanting—about Rs. 900,000 per acre. Some areas also need infilling. We expect budgetary support despite current constraints.
¶ 02 We met large estate owners yesterday along with the Labour Minister. There are 21 estates leased out by the Government; many sections are fallow, with inadequate replanting. We intend to revitalize them.
¶ 03 Fertilizer shortages severely impacted yields. Past ad hoc policy decisions plunged the sector into crisis; smallholder fertilizer demand faced backlogs. In coordination with the Fertilizer Secretariat, all pending fertilizer has now been delivered. Further, with the Agriculture Ministry, we secured 55,000 MT of fertilizer from Russia as assistance—27,500 MT of MOP was allocated to our Ministry. We are prioritizing coconut as well: over 38,000 acres of Government coconut lands had not received fertilizer for five years; we are deploying this MOP there too.
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 22 January 2025 ·No. 1739261035021938 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 22 January 2025. No. 1739261035021938. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/5674