Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) expects a target production of 300 million kilograms this year. It is optimistic about the performance of the industry. The industry expects a total revenue of US$ 1.2 billion by the end of this year, Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman, Lalith Hettiarachchi told Daily News Business. He said that although the Board expected a target production of 300 million kgs last year, due to many reasons such as drought, low application of fertilizer and labour issues the industry could not meet its target. “Therefore, the Board had to revise its targets between 290 to 295 million kgs. Even though there was a slight drop in the target total production last year, the total production recorded a 289.8 million kg despite the difficulties”, he said. There was a 40 percent drop in tea production in 2009 first quarter performance compared to 2008 first quarter production.