Apollo Kiarii, the Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) chief executive, said the world’s top producers have effectively adopted mechanisation that has increased quality output.
The plantations reckon the trend is worth emulating while maintaining and training workers to use them.
Tea growers are continuing to assert that for the country to maintain a healthy tea production level and compete globally, machinery should help human workforce.
Apollo Kiarii, the Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) chief executive, said the world’s top producers have effectively adopted mechanisation that has increased quality output.
The plantations reckon the trend is worth emulating while maintaining and training workers to use them.
“There has been media statements from unions that a single tea plucking machine replaces at least 600 tea pluckers. This is an alarmist and unsubstantiated statement ... meant to create anxiety while painting the tea industry as insensitive to employment of Kenyans,”said Mr Kiarii.
One machine, he said, can only take up to 12 persons’ role, adding a machine is usually handled by four trained employees and cannot pluck close to the 300 acres of tea area per day as claimed.
“Today without investing in mechanisation, 36 per cent of the tea fields in Kenya would be unviable under hand plucking.”
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
