Tea Cultivation

The topographic map shows the location of the three major crops/land uses in the Highlands of Sri Lanka: rice in the lowlands, gardens of tropical fruits and species on the edge of the paddy rice fields, and tea on the higher slopes.  A cross section of this 1:10,000 topographic map is shows the land uses. The elevations in the Highlands vary from 700 to below 600 meters, or 2,297 to 1,969 feet. In contrast, in the Lowlands the elevations range from 32 to 6.6 meters, or 105 to 22 feet.
Look at a photo of this topographic map and cross section. 1) What does tea cultivation have in common with coffee? 2) What is the structure on the top of the hill? 3) Where did the workers for these tea plantation come from? 4) Who brought them? Meet the tea pickers themselves, click on the photo.

Answers:

  • Highland crops: coffee and tea require higher elevations in the tropics -- sunny and hot days and cool nights.

  • Hindu temple for the Tamil tea estate workers

  • Tamil workers, who are Hindus, were imported from southern India by the British to work on their tea estates.

  • Today these estates are mostly owned by the government and managed by Sinhalese, who are largely Buddhists.

 

Created by Ingolf Vogeler 1 February 1996; last revised on 07 March 2005.