NY TIMES
Sri Lanka’s Fields of Tea
Photos: Keith Bedford
Most tea here is hand-plucked by small armies of Tamil women, descendants of Indians who were brought to the island 150 years ago by the British.
After years of struggle for higher wages and better working conditions, Sri Lankan estate workers are now better paid than laborers in India and elsewhere, though many often still live in small, rundown houses. An average daily picking of 25 to 28 kilograms will earn them about $5.
Even though plantation companies say they have spent millions to improve education, housing and health for their workers, officials expect a severe labor shortage in the coming years. Many children of plantation workers are not interested in working in tea fields even at the increased wages.
Sri Lanka has carved out a niche as a supplier of high-quality, traditionally processed teas, but many of its tea bushes have low yields because they are decades past their prime and need to be replanted.
Higher wages for workers and an estimated 15 percent drop in production because of poor rains have helped drive up prices at tea auctions in Colombo, Sri Lanka, by 100 percent in the last 12 months.
