An Investigation of Planters Insights for Alternative Worker Deployment Models of Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Alternative worker deployment; Contract farming; worker scarcity

Abstract

Tea industry remains a vital component of the national economy of Sri Lanka. However, worker shortage is one of the critical issues in this sector. Consequently, in recent years, changes have been occurred in the method of worker deployment from conventional estate practices to Alternative Worker Deployment Models (AWDMs) in order to address worker shortage. AWDMs must meet the expectations of workers and plantation owners while ensuring consistent quality. Stakeholders should understand and accept the system to ensure their commitment during implementation and continuation. Therefore, present study conducted to evaluate the perception of planters regarding AWDMs in cooperate sector tea plantations. Qualitative methods were chosen to achieve this aspect. Data was gathered through structural interviews with twenty-six (26) managers from various plantation companies that implemented and maintained AWDMs. Four key themes emerged during the analysis, (1) AWDM as a solution for labour shortage in plantation sector, (2). Critical points to be considered for sustainability of an AWDM, (3) Policies should be implemented in long term basis, (4) Way forward with AWDMs. The findings showed that the type of worker deployment has been changing depending on the circumstance and time. Most of the managers have acknowledged implementing contract farming system will be benefitted to the estate by reducing cost of production and the burden of maintaining uneconomical tea lands. Finally, the advancement of worker deployment models towards the concept of decent work represents a prospective development for the plantation industry.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - K. W. N. Nadeeshani
AU  - H. W. Shyamalie
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/15
TI  - An Investigation of Planters Insights for Alternative Worker Deployment Models of Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka
BT  - Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 219
EP  - 239
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_13
ID  - Nadeeshani2026
ER  -