Sri Lanka is gifted with abundant greenery, colourful flora and plenty of fauna. Most of they country’s locations are filled with rich soil where traditional cultivations continue to thrive. The main plantations tea, rubber and coconut share a unique history as to how it was first introduced to the country and also grew to become among Sri Lanka’s primary exporters.
Ceylon Tea
James Taylor marked the birth of the tea industry in 1867. This all started at Loolkandura Estate situated in the Kandy district. There onwards adjoining estates continued to harness opportunities to where tea could be grown. The main regions planting tea include Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Uda Pusselawa, Dimbula, Uva Province, Southern Province and the major tea growing areas are Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Bandarawela, Haputale, Galle, Matara, Mulkirigala, Ratnapura and Kegalle. Tea blends would be different from up country to low country, Uva to Sabaragamuwa province. Sri Lanka has numerous tea estates and some provided guided tours that include a bit history, introductions to production processes, a walk through the luscious green fields and finally to sip of hot cup of Ceylon tea while mulling over your next purchase from the gift shop.
Some of the best estates to visit include Pedro Estate, Halpewatte estate, Labookellie, St. Clair’s, Mlesna Tea Centre for a factory visit, production processes and tea tasting. The price per person usually varies from estate to estate and the factories recommend you to do this during morning hours to can witness the production process. The fee at Halpe Tea factory will cost LKR 450 and whereas Mlesna will cost LKR 350. If you are thinking of a tea factory experience our properties at Yoho Winrich Road in Ella or Yoho Hill Road in Nuwara Eliya would be great options to be based at.
Rubber
The Sri Lanka rubber plantation industry began in early years of 1876 with the planting of 1919 rubber seedlings at the Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens in Gampaha. Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Matale, Galle, Matara, Ratnapura and Kegalle districts are the main rubber growing areas and are mainly the wet zone. Dewalakande, Panawatte, Frocester, Halwatura, Talduwa and Chesterford are a few rubber estates that belong to the main rubber plantation companies in the country. Few of these factories allows estate walks and factory visit to see the rubber process. If you are passing by make sure to visit an estate and experience the activity yourself.
Coconut
Coconut is grown in most parts of the country. Kurunegala, Puttalam and Colombo belong to the first coconut triangle of Sri Lanka that cover 66% of all total coconut requirement of the country. The cultivated areas are above sea level up to elevation of 750 meters.
We have many coconut plantations in the country in the areas as Colombo, Kalutara, Puttlam and Kurunegala this cannot be missed when passing by. Coconut is used as a fruit, milk, oil, coconut shell after dried made into spoons, ornaments etc. The coir is natural fibre extracted from coconut husk and women labourers manually turn this into small industry ventures to produce ropes, mats and brooms for the local market. The second coconut triangle is not to far away in the areas of Jaffna, Mannar and Mulativu districts.
