By 1880, the hitherto thriving coffee industry in Ceylon had been ravaged to virtual non-existence by the blight. Nearly quarter of million acres of coffee plants were uprooted and the tea plant was accorded its pride of place instead. Thus began the great Ceylon tea industry.This tea saga of Ceylon begins with tea seeds being experimentally planted in the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens near Kandy in 1839.
1870 AD
Coffee blight forces changeover of plantation system from growing coffee to growing tea.
By 1880, the hitherto thriving coffee industry in Ceylon had been ravaged to virtual non-existence by the blight. Nearly quarter of million acres of coffee plants were uprooted and the tea plant was accorded its pride of place instead. Thus began the great Ceylon tea industry.This tea saga of Ceylon begins with tea seeds being experimentally planted in the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens near Kandy in 1839.