October tea output down for ninth straight month

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s tea output fell for a ninth consecutive month in October, due to severe drought, poor application of fertilisers and a Government ban on pesticides, the State-run Tea Board said on Thursday. 

Output in October fell by 30.9% from a year earlier, the Tea Board’s data showed. The last monthly gain was in January. 

Production in the first 10 months dropped 15.2%.

Director General at the Sri Lanka Tea Board S. A. Siriwardena said the decline will reduce annual production significantly.

“We will end up the year with 275 million kilos to 280 million kilos as we have experienced a big drop in September and October production,” Siriwardena said.

Sri Lanka’s 2015 tea output fell 2.7% to 329 million kg from the previous year, and missed forecasts for the second consecutive year because of heavy rains.

Tea is Sri Lanka’s top agricultural export commodity and one of the main foreign currency earners for the $ 82 b economy.