TEA PLANTATIONS – Tea was first planted in Sri Lanka in 1824 at the Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, when a few plants were brought from China. More were introduced from Assam in 1839.

In 1867, a Scottish Planter named James Taylor planted tea seedlings in an 8 hectares of forestland, in the Loolkondura Estate.

In 1873, the tea export industry of Sri Lanka began with a modest 23 lbs. being shipped to London.

Tea will grow only on rolling terrain and is classified by elevation into low grown, medium grown and high grown into 3 main groups. Today more than 200,000 hectares in highlands and other areas are under Tea and around 300 million Kilograms, with a 25% of world tea exports are done by Sri Lanka as the World’s largest Tea exporter.