COLOMBO, Jan 30: International experts have warned tea producing countries against any “rush” to increase production to fill the current small deficit in supply, stating that any significant increase in production could bring down the price to an unacceptable level. Dawn

Briefing on the opening day's proceedings at a meeting of the Food and Agriculture Inter-Governmental Group on Tea (FAIGG on Tea) here on Monday, Hasitha de Alwis, Director (Promotions) at the Sri Lanka Tea Board, said that according to experts, a 5 per cent increase in production in the next ten years would lead to a 15 per cent fall in price, and a 10 per cent increase would lead to the price plummeting by 32 per cent.

de Alwis described the current price level as “steady and strong” which needed to be maintained.

According to estimates, world tea production had fallen by 23 million kg, due to bad weather, even though India and China had seen an increase due to good weather. India's production had gone up by 34 million kg while China's had gone up by 28 million kg.

The conference of the FAIGG on Tea is being held under the aegis of the UN Committee on Commodity Problems. Janaki Kuruppu of Sri Lanka was elected President for the next two years. Two Vice Presidents, one representing the producing countries and the other the consuming countries, were also elected. Kenya filled the producers' slot and Germany, the consumers' slot.