Monday, 10 March 2014 00:00
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By Radhi De Silva
Is the tea industry being hit by turbulent times or is it just hues and cries of the unwary? It was recently reported that the weather gods have been unkind to those involved in the tea industry due to the prevailing drought, and also regarding the ongoing issues concerning the supply of fertiliser has had a negative impact on the industry, in turn bringing great difficulties to those engaged in the tea plantation sector.
Yes, the drought has come, but is it worth lamenting over the prevailing weather conditions? According to the management of Watawala Plantations PLC it is definitely not, and they go on to state that the company, being one of the leading tea manufacturing companies, has addressed the ongoing issues head-on and there is no reason for any major concerns.
The management states that precautions should be taken much in advance in order to be prepared for seasonal weather variations which take place every year and recourse towards traditional planting practices in order to deal with the prevailing conditions.
In relation to facing the ongoing drought, the management of Watawala Plantations PLC has always taken up the practice of burying prunings and compost in the tea plantations. This system allows for the water to seep into the trenches, thus making the trenches act as sponges thereby increasing the water storing capacity of the soil within the trenches during the wet seasons which is useful at times of dry weather conditions.
Shade regulation is also adopted to cope with the dry season by planting ‘grevillea robusta’ or silver oak as it is commonly called and also ‘gliricidia’ amidst the tea plantations in order to provide required shade for the tea plants to grow whilst ensuring the required soil moisture is maintained during the dry season by preventing high amounts of water evaporation from the soil during the dry seasons. Loppings from green manure trees are also used as a surface thatch to maintain the moisture in the soil.
Apart from the issue concerning the ongoing dry weather patterns in Sri Lanka, the prevailing concern regarding the shortage of fertiliser is a matter that has also been addressed by Watawala Plantations PLC.
The main reason behind the issues pertaining towards fertiliser in the tea industry is due to the tea planters’ over-reliance on artificial fertiliser and the reluctance to find alternative sources of fertiliser. In order to mitigate the problems faced with seeking artificial fertiliser the Watawala Plantations PLC has gone back to the basic and traditional agronomic practices such as deep draining and forking within the tea plantations.
Apart from utilising the trenches, cow dung and also the slurry which is a by-product of the bio-gas is used as an alternate to the artificial fertiliser. Watawala Plantation PLC obtains its supply of cow dung and the slurry from the Lonach Farm located in the Lonach Estate. Watawala Plantations PLC manages one of the largest dairy farms in Sri Lanka maintained by a plantation company.
Additionally, the management of Watawala Plantations PLC follows the practice of deep forking in order to ensure soil aeration. It must be mentioned that deep forking should be avoided during the drought season as it increases the evaporation of water.
With the aforementioned practices Watawala Plantations PLC has achieved yields in excess of 5,000 kilograms of made tea per hectare, and often going up to 6,000 kilograms of made tea per hectare in low country plantations which proves the significance of these traditional practices.
Another conventional alternate to artificial fertiliser has been gliricidia. This miracle plant, as described by botanists and planters alike is versatile because of its ability to provide nitrogen when it decomposes. Thereby gliricidia can be considered as a viable alternative to urea which is imported to Sri Lanka at a very high cost.
However it must be mentioned that gliricidia is only grown 4,000 feet below sea level which is ideal for the low country tea plantations, but not so for the upcountry tea plantations.
Unfortunately this natural fertiliser does not entirely replace urea since if the required nitrogen to crop ratio is 1:10, the gliricidia plants is used in order to provide only a part of the required supply of nitrogen while the other is obtained through urea.
The main reason behind not utilising this miracle plant completely is due to the lack of the abundant supply of gliricidia within the tea estates. Chief Executive Officer of Watawala Plantations PLC Dr. Dan Seevaratnam states that 70% of the national tea crop comes from the low country and the tea industry should give serious thought to gliricidia if not for anything at least as an alternate natural “grown in situ” alternate to importing urea.
The national production of tea in Sri Lanka is approximately 340 million kilograms and out of which 75% of that tea comes from the low elevations which are grown mostly by the smallholder sector. Gliricidia being able to grow abundantly in the lower elevations it is an ideal home-grown remedy for the shortage of inorganic fertiliser in the smallholder sector.
Dr. Seevratnam goes further to state that gliricidia having been acknowledged as the 4th plantation crop in Sri Lanka not so long ago, this crop should be re-looked at with the seriousness it deserves.
With quite a number of alternate solutions at hand to address some of the main issues faced in the tea industry it is time to stop grumbling and relying on artificial fertiliser but face the issues at hand practically.
(The writer is an Attorney-at-Law & Notary Public)
