A Comparative Analysis Of Machine And Hand Picking Harvesting Method In Tea Production, A Case Of Southdown Estate, Chipinge

ABSTRACT For the past decades Southdown estate in Zimbabwe employed manual tea harvesting method, due to labour shortages and increase in labour costs tea harvesting became expensive. Although the estate adopted machine harvesting method in a quest to resolve imminent financial problems faced at Southdown the costs kept escalating. Therefore this study was undertaken to compare the two harvesting methods (hand harvesting method and machine harvesting method) in order to evaluate the costs and benefits for the two harvesting methods in tea production. In order to answer the first objective whi…