Ceylon Tea and Plantation Exports

How tea, rubber and coconut plantations built Sri Lanka's colonial economy, why tea remains a major export, and the lives of plantation workers of Indian origin.

Ceylon tea is famous worldwide.

History

Under British rule, coffee plantations failed due to disease in the 1870s.
Planters switched to tea, and later rubber and coconut.
James Taylor started early commercial tea planting.

Workers

Plantations were worked by Tamil labourers brought from southern India.
Many were made stateless after independence under citizenship laws of 1948; most later gained citizenship over decades.
Plantation workers have remained among the poorest groups.

Exports today

Tea remains a major export, around 1.3 billion dollars a year.
Sri Lanka is one of the world’s top tea exporters.
Buyers include the Middle East, Russia and Turkey.

Challenges

Ageing bushes and low yields.
Labour shortages.
Fertiliser shortages in 2021-22 cut output.

The tea estate

On a hill estate in Nuwara Eliya, workers of Indian Tamil origin pluck tea leaves, continuing a tradition that began in the 1800s.

Thinking Sri Lanka always grew tea

Tea replaced coffee after disease in the 1870s.

Key takeaways

Tea replaced coffee in the 1870s.
Tamil labourers from India worked the plantations.
Many were made stateless after 1948.
Tea remains a major export.