Category: Agriculture

December 14, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has appointed a high level committee to help revise lease agreements currently in place between the government and regional plantation companies.A committee headed by treasury secretary P B Jayasundara will lead the government delegation to hammer out a mutual agreement between the golden shareholder (the government), regional plantation […]

Dec 12 (LBO) – Sri Lankan regional plantations company Udapussellawa Plantations is to hand over management of two estates to a newly incorporated private company for a 38-year period, an official said Tuesday. “These estates need a lot of investment into the field operations as well as factories and with the current structure and wages going […]

Dec 12 (LBO) – State owned Bank of Ceylon has tied up with Pelwatte Sugar Industries to give farmers over a billion rupees in soft loans and boost production at the country’s largest sugar plantation.Bank of Ceylon said Tuesday that it would give 15,000 sugar cane growers cultivating 150,000 hectares, up to 150,000 rupees each to […]

December 07, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is unlikely to reach last year’s tea production record, as trade unions strikes on estates since November over a wage hike, shows no signs of slowing. December production is likely to reach about 21 million kilos over the usual 25 million kilos. “The outlook for January too is not […]

Nov 30, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantation companies warned Thursday of millions of rupees in losses due to trade union action on estates, as wage talks reach breaking point. Sri Lanka has over 250,000 estate workers, with the island among the world’s top producers’ at over 300 million kilos of black tea produced a year. […]

NAIROBI, Nov 27, 2006 (AFP) – Global tea experts meeting in Kenya Monday called for tough minimum quality standards to address the growing problem of poor tea entering the international market and depressing prices.“In targeting potential growth markets, recognition of and compliance with food safety and quality standards is essential,” said Kaison Chang, a senior […]

November 24, 2006 (LBO) – Young urban Sri Lankans are steadily patronising India’s Barista Coffee Co.‘s, chains in Colombo, for a piece of cheescake and sip cappucino, while they surf the Internet, play board games and browse through magazines, officials said. “Our aim is to add two stores every year.We managed to do that this year, […]

Nov 23 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea plantations are battling weather, wage hikes and unofficial trade union ‘go slows’ on estates that have already eaten into October crop production, the lowest since 1995. Workers want a daily wage package of 295 rupees, up from the current wage of 180 rupees a day. Employers say they can […]

Nov 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantation sector trade unions are to hold crisis talks on Tuesday on stalled wage negotiations with companies, and any strike action, if at all. Employers say union demands for a 100 rupee a day increase over the current, without other added costs or employee benefits, would amount to five billion […]

Nov 16, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantation companies have asked estate worker unions to compromise on a wage increase, in efforts to jumpstart talks that broke down this week. Talks between plantation sector trade unions and employers broke down after both sides failed to reach an agreement on a wage increase for workers under a […]

Nov 08 (LBO) – Sri Lankan branded tea exporter Imperial Teas may look at setting up subsidiaries in countries like China and even Kenya, to develop its brands and manage its supply chain.The company commissioned a study by MTI Consulting to develop a game plan for expansion and jumpstart almost stagnant growth over the past three […]

Nov 02 (LBO) – Sri Lanka posted record tea production in September, as estate worker trade unions thrash out a wage increase for over 250,000 plantation workers. Wage Talks Meanwhile, estate worker trade unions say they expect a quick closure in wage talks, with union officials downplaying strike action on some estates in Hatton over the […]