The Tea Research Institute (TRI), Sri Lanka’s national research establishment for the tea sector, has proposed an exchange of tea germ plasm (genetic material), with India. Such exchange programmes concerning high value cash crops, particularly for breeding purposes, are extremely rare among countries that compete in world markets.
 Sri Lanka is the world’s third largest tea producer behind China and India, and Ceylon Tea is a billion dollar export out of Sri Lanka. “We are trying to establish a formal mechanism to exchange genetic material on a mutually beneficial basis. We have already proposed a tea germ plasm exchange programme to an Indian tea research institute. But this kind of exchange programmes is very rare because countries don’t like to share commercially valuable genetic material. So the Indian research institute needs permission from the government of India to go ahead with this.
We are waiting for approval from the Indian government,” TRI Director, Dr Sarath Abeysinghe told the Sunday Times FT. Sri Lanka is also planning to approach China for a similar exchange programme because China is one of just two original sources of the tea plant. “We are trying to establish links with China as well, because the two main types of tea originate from India and China. Tea plants in the rest of the world are hybrids of these two varieties,” said Dr Abeysinghe. The exchange, if approved by the Indian and Chinese governments, will help strengthen Sri Lanka’s tea genetic base.
Sri Lanka has also developed new varieties of tea with specific genetic characterizes that will be available for exchange. Given the commercial value of the tea plant, so far, most exchanges of genetic material between competitor countries have been by smuggling a small part of a tea plant or seeds. The TRI says a proper exchange programme will control such incidents and increase exchange of information. Although Ceylon Tea is Sri Lanka’s number one cash crop and tea is the staple beverage among Sri Lankans, the tea plant itself is not of SriLankan origin. The tea plant was introduced into Sri Lanka by the British during the colonial era, in the 19th century. Therefore, Sri Lanka’s tea gene pool is limited to what was brought in by the British. All the new varieties of tea plants developed in the country, also derive from this stock.
Scientists say this ‘narrow genetic base’ is a limitation when developing new varieties of tea.
The genetic similarity is also a threat to the industry, because it makes the entire sector vulnerable to diseases and pests. “All the tea plants we have in the country today are from the tea stock introduced by the British. So this is a very narrow gene pool. For breeding purposes, we need genetic diversity to be able to mix different characteristics. Also, pests or diseases can spread across the entire tea sector more easily because all the plants are genetically the same,” said Dr Abeysinghe. Sri Lanka wants to develop more new varieties of tea plants that are adaptable to extreme weather patterns and plants that are resistant to pests and diseases. An exchange of genetic material is expected to help develop such plants. |
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