Tea Cultivation (Full Guide)

Introduction

in this article, I’m going to tell you about the Tea Cultivation

• Origin in China.
• Tannine enzyme is included in tea leaves
• Botanical name- Camellia  sinensis
• Family- Theaceae
• Morphology
• Evergreen shrubs or trees.
• Simple leaves.
• Highly cross-pollinated plant.

Different jats

•         1.China jats
•         2.Assam jats
•         3.Indo-China or Cambodia jat

Recommended clones

•         1.TRI 2000 series
•         2.TRI 3000 series
•         3.TRI 4000 series
•         4.Estate cultivars

Cultivation

SOIL & CLIMATIC REQUIREMENT

Soil requirement

• pH – 4.5-5.5
• Red yellow Podsolic, Red Brown Latasol,  Immature Brown Latarsol
• Should be deep & permeable, well drain soil

Climatic requirement

• Rainfall- Optimum 2500-3000m  – Well distributed rainfall
• Temperature- 18-25 ⁰C

TEA NURSERY MANAGEMENT

Selection of soil

• Gauthamala soil
• Mana soil
• Jungle soil
• Pathana soil
• Subsoil

Fumigation of soil

• Basamid
• Methyl bromide

Alternative for soil

• Coir dust
• Paddy husk
• Refuse Tea

Criteria for site selection

• Well drainage soil
• Flat gently & sloping land
• Irrigate water should free from nematodes

• Proximity to water source
• Absence of heavy shade
• Availability of soil media
• Transport facilities

Propagation

• By seeds
• Vegetative propagation

          – Budding

          – Grafting

          – Layering

          – Single nodal cuttings

• Tissue culture

PLANTING MATERIALS

• Type of shoots & cuttings

        – Choose active shoots for propagation

        – Cuttings are single-node cuttings with one leaf

        – Semi-hardwood middle potting of a shoot is suitable for taking cuttings  

        – Cuttings should be obtained from multiplication plots

        – 15-25 shoots can be obtained from one tea shrubs & 3-5 cuttings from one shoots                     

Propagation of mother shrubs

• Remove terminal buds about 2-3 weeks before taking shoots
• Spray foliar application of Zink sulphate & Urea 2-3% each to break dormancy of auxiliary buds
• When obtaining single node cuttings, Uppercut should be made closer to the auxiliary buds & 2nd cut should be made 2.5-3.8cm below the nodes
• Always cuttings should be inserted into the water to absorption of air bubbles to the xylem

Popular high yield in clones

1. TRI 3020            2. TRI 4006

     3. TRI 4042            4 .TRI 4049

Planting bags

• (23*10)cm
• 150 Gauges
• Transparent
• Punched few holes on the sides to facilitate drainage
• Both side open

Aftercare operation

 1. Watering- twice a day, After 3 weeks reduce watering once a day

 2.Weeding- Remove the weeds after 2 months of planting

3.Shading- Use bracken ferns, coir net or polythene covers with net

4.Fertilizer application- After 70-90 days

 5.When plants 5 months old

           – Restacking

           – Training

           – Hardening

Soil conservation & rehabilitation

• Drains & terraces.

             -Lateral drains

1. Construct along the contours
2. Gradient 1 in 120
3. Slope towards leader drains
4. Largeness : 45cm wide & 45cm deep
5. Spacing : 6-12cm based on slope & amount RF

Leader drains

1. Stepwise

2. Silted on natural waterways to remove excess water in non-erosive velocity

3. Construct with step wise manner with reversal slope

4. Save the sides & bottom of the drain with stones

5. Construct along the natural drainage lines

Construction of terraces

1. On steep lands contour terrace constructed
2. Distance between terraces depends on slope the land
3. Suitable grasses are planted at uphill side of the terraces

Rehabilitation of lands

-Before planting grasses dolomite be applied to adjust the soil pH to the desirable range of 4.5-5.5                                                          

-The dolomite was uniformly distributed on the soil surface

    OBJECTIVES

1. Improve soil facility
2. Improve soil organic matter content
3. Control pest & diseases
4. Providing a mulch

Planting of tea

• Spacing (1.2 * 0.6)m.
• -Plant density 11,000 plants/ha or 4500 plants/ac
• -Planting holes/trenches

–Size of planting hole

• Top diameter -30cm
• Bottom diameter-22.5cm
• Depth-45cm

-Filling

• Fill 2/3 0f the hole with topsoil
• Two weeks prior to planting
• -Stalking for rootstock shaking by wind

Training & Pruning

• Pruning

      -Process to the tea bush at a creation height to control the vertical growth and allow it expanding horizontally for comfortable plucking with renewed and vigorous branching pattern.

• Training  

      -Aimed at modifying it to form a low bush of good spread and of appropriate height for plucking

Pruning Method

1.Clean pruning – hard pruning system

  – all the branches are cut low at a height of (25 to 40)cm

2.Rim lung pruning    – pruning height (40-55)cm

   – 3-4 healthy branches are left the periphery of the bush at the time of pruning

3. Cut across –the top of the bush is cut level at a height of about (55-70)cm

4.Skiffing-slashing which smoothen the plucking surface & reduce its height by a 5cm

5.Rejuvenation pruning- types of hard pruning carried out when the foundation frame of bushes reaches & unproductive stage

Plucking

• Process of harvesting tea by selective plucking oh tender shoots
• Ideally bud + 2 leaves
• Over mature parts of the shoots

1. High fibre content
2. Produce off grades
3. Have less favourable chemical constitutes

Methods of plucking

1. Hand plucking
2. Shear plucking

 Plucking standards

1. Fine plucking- single leaf plucking
2. Medium plucking- fish leaf plucking
3. Hard plucking- Janam leaf plucking

 Plucking interval

1. Frequency of plucking

        Fertilizer Application

1. 3 years- First pruning   – T 750
2.  After first pruning –  U 709

   Shading

1. High shade  –  Grevillea robusta ,  Albizzia moluccana
2. Medium shade  –  Glirlicidia sepium ,  Acacia pruninosa

PEST & DISEASE

Pests

  1.Shoot hold borer

  2.Live wood termite

  3.Tea tortrix

  4.Nematodes

Disease

  1.Blister blight

TEA PROCESSING

TEA GRADES

• Broken grades

      – BOP ( Broken Orange Pekoe )

      – BP ( Broken Pekoe )

      – BOPF ( Broken Orange Pekoe Fanning )

      – D ( Dust )

• Leaf grades

      – OP

      – P

• CTC Tea grades

      – BP1                – PF1

      – PF                  – F1

      – D1                 

Tea production line

• Orthodox Black Tea
• Green Tea
• Instant Tea
• Carbonated Tea
• Oolong Tea

check out my other article:Grapes Cultivation (Full Guide)