Sri Lankan tea pickers' dreams shattered by economic crisis

Arulappan Ideijody, 42, plucks tea leaves at an estate, amid the country's economic crisis, in Bogawantalawa, Sri Lanka, April 29, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

BOGAWANTALAWA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - On a lush plantation in Sri Lanka, Arulappan Ideijody deftly plucks the tips of each tea bush, throwing them over her shoulder into an open basket on her back.

After a month of picking more than 18 kg (40 lb) of such tea leaves each day, she and her husband, fellow picker Michael Colin, 48, receive about 30,000 rupees, worth about $80 after the island nation devalued its currency.