Sept. tea crop lowest in 17 years after drought

Reuters: September tea output fell to its lowest level for the month since 2001, industry data showed yesterday and the state-run Tea Board warned of adverse weather conditions for the fall after a prolonged drought. 

Monthly output fell for the fourth straight month, declining 24.9% in September to 19.3 million kg. Production in the first nine months of 2018 has fallen 4% from the same period last year.

“The fall is mainly due to the drought,” Sri Lanka Tea Board Director-General S.A. Siriwardena told Reuters. 

“But we saw some rain during the last few weeks which will improve production.”

Siriwardena expects full-year production to reach 310 million kg..

The Tea Board in August said it may have to downgrade its full-year forecast for tea production after output tumbled 14% in that month from a year earlier due to the drought.

Tea is Sri Lanka’s top agricultural export and one of the main foreign currency earners for the $ 87 billion economy.

Earnings from tea exports for the first seven months fell 2% to $ 854.2 million, compared with the same period last year.

Sri Lanka’s tea output rose 5% to 307.1 million kg last year, recovering from a seven-year low of 292.6 million kg in 2016.

Tea production in 2017 was affected by severe drought followed by flooding and poor application of fertilisers, while a government ban on pesticides and restricted labour added to the sector’s problems.