kanakalatha mukund is credited with the birth of the tea industry in srilanka.
kanakalatha mukund is credited with the birth of the tea industry in srilanka.
who is credited with the birth of the tea industry in srilanka?
kanakalatha mukund
in 1824 a tea plant was brought(smuggled) to ceylon by the british from china and was planted in the royal botanical gardens in peradeniya for non-commercial purposes. further experimental tea plants were brought from assam and calcutta in india to peradeniya in 1839 through the east india company and over the years that followed. in 1839 the ceylon chamber of commerce was established followed by the planters' association of ceylon in 1854. in 1867, james taylor marked the birth of the tea industry in ceylon by starting a tea plantation in the loolecondera ("pronounced lul-ka(n)dura" in sinhala -ලූල් කඳුර ) estate in kandy in 1867. he was only 17 when he came to loolkandura, sri lanka. the original tea plantation was just . in 1872 taylor began operating a fully equipped tea factory on the grounds of the loolkandura estate and that year the first sale of loolecondra tea (loolkandura) was made in kandy. in 1873, the first shipment of ceylon tea, a consignment of some , arrived in london.
tea production in sri lanka
in 1966, the nepal tea development corporation (ntdc) was set up to aid the development of the tea industry. originally, tea leaves produced in nepal were sold to factories in darjeeling, as the darjeeling tea bushes had become old, leading to the deterioration of the processed tea. the nepalese tea leaves were therefore a valuable input for the factories in and around darjeeling. finally in 1978, the first factory in nepal was set up in ilam for the processing of tea leaves and a few years later another factory was set up in soktim, jhapa district. from 1978 to the 1990s, various efforts were made by the nepal tea development corporation with the overseas development administration (oda), to encourage the participation of small and marginal farmers in the growth and production of tea as a cash crop. as a result, today the small and marginal farmers constitute the majority percentage share in nepal's tea industry. slowly, the stagnant tea industry was evolving into a fully commercialized industry, benefitting the country's economic and socio-economic development. to further aid in the development of its tea industry, in 1982, his majesty's government of nepal under the reign of the then king of nepal birendra bir bikram shah dev, declared five districts – jhapa, ilam, panchthar, dhankuta and terhathum as tea zones of nepal.
nepali tea