TEA NEWS #tea news

Kenya: Spirited fight by multinationals as climate change cuts tea volumes

Sri Lanka’s fertiliser policy has caused a stir among tea buyers eager to find out if stocks will continue to pour in while exporters believe it’s only a matter of time before Sri Lanka could lose markets that generates a total of US$1.2 billion in annual revenue.

Tea Prices Set To Go Up Despite Low Production

Storm brewing over governor’s deal to export tea directly to Iran

Small Scale Tea Growers To Get Subsidized Fertilizer

•The direct shareholding allows farmers to have a seat at the KTDA Holdings Board. •It gives them more control over their assets, currently worth more than Sh36 billion.

• They have petitioned the government to kick out their predecessors • Say all they want is to restore the farmer's lost glory. The rights of tea farmers must be respected

•Companies Act demands that directors must ensure that, among other things, their company secretary holds certification from ICPSK. •Susan Wanjiru Macharia was recently appointed company secretary of Githongo, Weru, Imenti, Kinoro, Kionyo, Kiegoi and Michimikuru Tea Factories Companies Limited.

Tea was first introduced to Sri Lanka in 1839 with the planting of a batch of tea seeds in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya (Weatherstone, 1986). The first commercial tea plantation was started by James Taylor in 1867 by utilizing 19 acres of land on the Loolkandura Estate in the Kandy district (Nathaniel, 1986). Taylor visited India in 1866 to learn the basics of tea growing as plantations to expand the tea cultivation in Sri Lanka. The first fully equipped tea factory was started by Taylor in the Loolkandura Estate in 1872 and the first shipment of 23 pounds of ‘Ceylon tea’ was exported to the London tea auction in 1875. From that point, Ceylon tea was exported to the London and Melbourne auctions regularly and its success led to the opening of an auction market in Colombo in 1883.

Mr Joseph Nyang’au is a man at a crossroads. For the past 15 years, he has been selling eucalyptus seedlings to Gusii residents and this has been his only source of livelihood. But a directive by the Kisii County government requiring residents to uproot the tree from riparian land has rattled him. His business has been on the decline, with buyers of his seedlings getting fewer by the day. The Nation caught up with him at his Bobaracho farm near Kisii town.

GOOD GENERAL DEMAND, STRONG ON SELECTED QUALITY

The Official who is also the Ndima Tea Factory Chairman said following the ongoing reforms in the sector and having been declared the zone five Director to the KTDA, he had all it what it takes to replace Kanyago.