Business

Mechanized tea plucking: A technology that transforms tradition and eases the burden on tea pluckers

Published

2 months ago

2026/08/8

In the misty highlands of Nuwara Eliya, where generations of estate workers have bent over tea bushes from dawn to dusk, a quiet revolution is taking root. A single machine, placed in the hands of a tea plucker, is rewriting decades old rules about what a day’s labour can earn, and who gets to earn it.

Berendina Development Services (Guarantee) Limited (BDS) is a Sri Lanka based non profit, community development organization dedicated to poverty alleviation, financial inclusion and sustainable livelihood enhancement, has spent years standing shoulder to shoulder with estate communities. BDS latest intervention, a bold push to mechanize tea plucking, is now delivering results that go far beyond the tea bush: rising incomes, lighter workloads and a levelling of the playing field for women who have long carried the heaviest load.

The plantation sector remains one of Sri Lanka’s most labour intensive industries, with thousands of families depending almost entirely on daily tea plucking for survival. For generations, manual plucking has required prolonged hours of repetitive bending and reaching under harsh weather and steep terrain. Earnings are directly tied to the quantity of tea harvested each day, meaning productivity limitations translate immediately into income constraints. For households with structural marginalization where alternative employment is scarce, this dependency locks families into a cycle of vulnerability that is hard to break.

Within this context, BDS set out to break it. The introduction of mechanized tea plucking is a strategic livelihood intervention aimed at strengthening income security, boost labour efficiency and building long term resilience across estate communities, as part of BDS’s wider mission to unlock economic opportunity for marginalized communities

Since 2022, BDS has placed tea plucking machines in the hands of 179 estate workers across nine estates in Nuwara Eliya District, Clarendon, Desford, Fordyce, Great Western, Ingestre, Mount Vernon, Palmaston, Drayton and Somerset, each unit valued at around Rs. 58,000. The machines remain the property of BDS, and are provided under a tripartite agreement. Estate Management is responsible for safe custody, security, and operational monitoring, while the beneficiary, as the end user, ensures proper use, maintenance and timely reporting of any issues for accountable and efficient utilization.

To capture the real world dividends of this intervention, BDS conducted an impact assessment at least five months after distribution, covering 97 beneficiaries, 44 women and 53 men, to measure what had actually changed. Most households consisted of 4-6 members and educational attainment levels were relatively low, with 45 respondents having completed only primary education and 37 having completed secondary schooling. A notable factor is that only 1 person has completed G.C.E A/L’s and 13 people have completed G.C.E O/L’s. Most of the beneficiaries are in the age category 40 – 49 years.

The results are nothing short of transformative. The results speak for themselves. Daily tea yields nearly doubled, leaping from 24-25 kilograms to 44-45 kilograms per worker, a 79.7 percent productivity surge. Monthly household incomes climbed by 66.7 percent, adding an average of Rs. 12,500 to family budgets every month. For estate families whose primary or sole source of income is tea plucking, such growth has meaningful implications for food security, educational expenditures, debt management and overall resilience against economic shocks.

The intervention has begun to lift a physical burden carried for generations. Manual plucking involves repetitive hand movements, continuous bending and sustained physical exertion that often leads to fatigue and musculoskeletal strain. By reducing the intensity and duration of labour required to meet daily targets, the machines have delivered a tangible improvement in occupational wellbeing, with beneficiaries integrating machine use into three to six hours of their daily schedules, balancing productivity gains with estate land allocations and operational conditions, and some extending usage further where access allowed to maximize their earning potential.

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Business

ComBank hands over fully refurbished wards at De Soysa Hospital for Women

Published

6 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

Pictured here are the representatives of the Bank and senior officials of the hospital at the ceremonial handing over of the refurbished ward.

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently handed over Wards No. 03 and 04 of the De Soysa Hospital for Women, after the completion of a comprehensive renovation project launched in March this year to mark International Women’s Day.

Wards 03 and 04 handle a substantial share of the hospital’s patient load, and account for approximately 2,500 to 3,000 deliveries and 4,000 to 5,000 admissions annually. Their refurbishment was designed to significantly enhance patient care, safety and comfort, and directly benefit thousands of mothers and newborns.

Five Trustees of the Commercial Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility Trust participated in the formal handing over of the refurbished wards to the hospital authorities. They were Sharhan Muhseen, the Bank’s Chairman, Raja Senanayake, Deputy Chairman, Sanath Manatunge, Managing Director/CEO, Hasrath Munasinghe, Chief Operating Officer, and Prasanna Indrajith, Chief Financial Officer.

Established in 1879, the De Soysa Hospital for Women is the first maternity hospital in Sri Lanka and the second oldest in Asia and is credited with, among others, performing the country’s first caesarean section in 1905 and establishing one of its earliest organised operating theatres in 1907.

The Commercial Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility Trust, through which this project was implemented, has via its healthcare-related interventions supported more than 100 government hospitals with essential equipment and infrastructure, contributed to emergency medical services through the ‘Adopt an Ambulance’ initiative, and implemented targeted community health interventions such as water storage solutions for families affected by kidney disease.

Business

IIHS expands global nursing pathways

Published

7 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

Dr. Renuka Jayatissa and Dr. Kithsiri Edirisinghe speaking to the media

The International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS) Multiversity is expanding its international education programmes with the aim of creating overseas employment opportunities for Sri Lankan nurses and allied health professionals while contributing to foreign exchange earnings.

Speaking to the media during a conference at IIHS Multiversity in Kerawalapitiya, Dr. Kithsiri Edirisinghe, CEO, Co-Founder and Dean of IIHS aid that the institute has established academic partnerships with overseas universities and higher education institutions, including the University of Surrey in the UK, Deakin University in Australia, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Finland, Asia e University in Malaysia and SUNY Canton in the United States.

Under its ‘Study in Sri Lanka, Graduate to the World’ model, students can complete foundational and diploma-level qualifications locally before progressing to international top-up degrees or overseas employment.

Dr Edirisinghe said the model could substantially reduce the cost of obtaining internationally recognised qualifications. It estimates that completing a four-year bachelor’s degree at the University of Surrey in the UK would cost about USD 145,700, including tuition and living expenses, compared with about USD 27,750 through the IIHS pathway in Sri Lanka.

Dr Edirisinghe said the institute’s focus on overseas deployment addressed both Sri Lanka’s economic needs and the growing global demand for healthcare workers.

“Our winning model is producing job-ready, registration-ready healthcare professionals who can seamlessly enter foreign healthcare systems,” he said.

IIHS, which began operations in 2002 as the American College of Health Sciences, established its institutional base in Welisara in 2008 and launched its purpose-built greenfield multiversity campus in 2023.

The institute said it has upgraded the qualifications of more than 5,000 government nurses, supported over 2,500 youth on international employment pathways and trained more than 1,000 allied health professionals. It has also carried out over 250 community health projects.

The institute has identified Germany and Japan among its target markets, with pathways planned for 2,000 nurses for Germany and a one-year preparation programme linked to around 4,000 healthcare positions in Japan.

Dr. Renuka Jayatissa, Vice-Chancellor and a specialist medical doctor, said demographic changes and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases were changing healthcare requirements in Sri Lanka.

Business

Sampath Bank launches Sri Lanka’s first community-powered book discovery platform at Colombo International Book Fair

Published

7 hours ago

2026/10/4

Thilina Walpola

Sampath GPay customers can enjoy 25% cash back on Book Fair purchases

Sampath Bank PLC has launched Sampath Book Finder, Sri Lanka’s first community-powered book discovery platform, giving visitors to the Colombo International Book Fair a faster and more seamless way to find the books they are looking for across the fair’s 150+ stalls, while also opening up new opportunities to discover titles recommended by fellow readers.

Introduced on the opening day of the Colombo International Book Fair on 25 September, Sampath Book Finder brings together digital innovation and the collective knowledge of readers to address a familiar challenge at one of Sri Lanka’s largest literary gatherings, where the scale of the fair can make locating a particular title a time-consuming exercise. When a book proves difficult to locate, visitors can access bookfairtracker.com or scan the designated QR code and submit a request to the community, allowing readers who have already spotted the title to share its location and help others find it without having to search stall after stall.

Commenting on the initiative, Milinda Weerasinghe, Chief Marketing Officer, Sampath Bank PLC, said, “At Sampath Bank, we believe meaningful innovation begins by identifying everyday challenges and creating solutions that make a real difference. Sampath Book Finder brings this thinking to the Colombo International Book Fair by turning the collective knowledge of readers into a real-time digital solution, empowering them to find what they are looking for, discover something new and help others do the same, while making the overall experience more convenient and connected.”

The platform also turns book discovery into a shared experience, allowing visitors to recommend books they encounter by sharing the title, publisher, hall and stall number, which enables fellow readers to discover sought-after titles and recommendations while making it easier to locate them within the fair.

Sampath Bank’s longstanding association with the Colombo International Book Fair also continues in 2026, marking more than 20 years of partnership, with the Bank serving as the Official Banking Partner for this year’s fair. As part of its presence at the event, SampathCards offer 25% cashback for Sampath GPay customers on their purchases and 3 months 0% instalment plans for book purchases via Sampath credit cards, while visitors can also access banking services through the Bank’s physical presence at the fair. Customers registering to open selected Fixed Deposits at the premises will receive an additional 0.25%, adding further value and convenience for visitors.