Tea
💫Botanical Name - Camellia Sinensis
💫Family - Camelliaceae
💫Chromosome no. (2n) = 30
In Hindi
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💫Center of Origin = South East Asia
💫Leaves: Bright green and shiny
💫Flowers: Scented, occurring singly or in clusters of two to four.
💫Fruits: Brownish-green, containing one to four spherical or flattened seeds.
💫Growth cycle is from 240 to 365 days, fruits take from 270 to 360 days to mature and seeds are normally produced after 3 years.
Introduction & Economical Importance
🎯 Tea is one of the important or famous beverages.
🎯 Tea is an evergreen or herbaceous plant.
🎯 Tea is also known as "Queen of Beverage ☕ Crop".
🎯The colour and characteristics of tea are determined by whether the tea leaves undergo fermentation. Black tea, with its orange to dark-red hue, may offer a scented infusion. It has a low level of Catechins (4.0 g/100g) and a high level of Theaflavins (0.94 g/100g). In contrast, green tea produces a mildly flavoured, yellowish beverage and contains the highest level of Catechins (14.2 g/100g) with zero Theaflavins.
Processing or Manufacturing of Tea
There are the following steps involved in proc
🎯 Withering: This step involves reducing the moisture content of leaves.
🎯 Rolling: In this step, the plant leaves are broken through a machine or roller to extract polyphenol oxidase (an enzyme which oxidises the polyphenol in the presence of oxygen to produce theaflavins.
🎯 Fermentation: In this step, The roller tea material is subject to fermentation by either spread on concrete floors or kept in aluminium trays. In the presence of high humidity.
🎯 Drying: The purpose of this step is to stop the fermentation process and gradually remove the moisture content without giving off a burnt odour but preserving the underlying quality. This step involves passing the fermented tea in thin layers through conveyors into a dryer in which the inlet temperature is maintained around 250 – 280°F and the outlet temperature around 150-200°F.
🎯 Grading: the grading of the dried matter is done by passing the bulk of dried tea into different-sized mashes which aid in separation into different grades. Stalky fibres were removed from dried tea.
Area & Production
💫In World: India holds the first 🥇 in tea 🍵 production and consumption as well as the fourth position globally in tea exports, with a substantial volume of 256.57 million kg during the 2017-18 period, amounting to a value of US$ 785.92 million. Impressively, the country achieved a tea production of 1,325.05 million kg in the same fiscal year.
💫In India
🎯Tea cultivation is predominantly concentrated in Assam (50%) and West Bengal (25%), followed by Karnataka (30%) and Tamil Nadu (10%).
🎯 Minor tea-producing regions include Tripura, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar.
Climate
🎯 Tea is cultivated on a plantation scale in various global regions with warm and moist climates.
🎯 Adequate and evenly distributed rainfall, ranging from 125 cm to 750 cm, is crucial for successful tea cultivation
🎯 Its growth occurs at altitudes ranging from sea level up to approximately 2460 m.
Soil
🎯 Ideal tea plantations thrive in deep, fertile loam and organic-rich forest land. Indian tea soils typically exhibit medium to strongly acidic reactions, with significant organic matter, nitrogen, and potash.
🎯 However, active lime content is kept minimal, as tea doesn't flourish in soils with excessive lime. The subsoil needs to be non-stiff, avoiding hardness, while tea growth on clay soil yields more uniform and higher-quality tea compared to coarse sandy soils.
Varieties
🎯 Pandian, Sundaram, Golconda, Jayaram, Evergreen, Athrey, Brookeland, BSS 1, BSS 2, BSS 3, BSS 4, BSS 5, Biclonal seed stocks and Grafts.
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Field Preparation
🎯In hilly terrains, tea cultivation involves clearing low vegetation and unwanted forest trees.
🎯 Slopes are terraced, contour drains and silt traps are added. A windbreak of silver oak surrounds the area, and shade trees like Silver oak and Jack are planted 12-15 m apart a year before the main plantation for protection against harsh weather.
🎯 To prepare the land, pits measuring 30-45 cm deep and 22 cm in diameter are dug, and filled with a mixture of surface soil, FYM, and leaf mould.
Propagation
🎯 Plants are commonly propagated through seeds, but vegetative methods such as budding, grafting, and layering can enhance yield and quality.
🎯 Seeds are initially sown in germinating beds, then transferred to nurseries with loose friable soil.
🎯 After 6-8 months, 1.5-year-old seedlings are planted in April–May or Sept.–Oct. in previously prepared pits in permanent stages.
🎯Additionally, gap filling and replacing in 30-year-old bushes are carried out during this period.
Planting
🎯 Planting work in tea gardens is done in different ways -
(i) Planting the seeds at their place.
(ii) Preparing and planting seedlings in the nursery.
(iii) Preparing and planting grafted or grafted seedlings
iv) Planting by rooted leaf cuttings
🔰 Among the other planting methods, plantation through rooted leaf cuttings is more popular.
🎯 It is better to do the planting work in November, it can continue from November to January.
🎯Planting work is not good in the spring season.
Pruning
🎯 Tea bushes are regularly pruned to maintain a proper shade with a 1.2 to 1.5-meter diameter at a height of 1 to 2 meters.
🎯 When one-year-old plants reach a height of 45 cm, entering is performed by cutting the main stem a few centimetres above the ground. This annual process continues, and by the age of 4 or 5, the plant becomes a mature bush ready to yield a crop.
🎯 To promote lateral spread, any shoots growing through the centre of the bush are removed.
🎯 After each pruning cycle, the bush is cut back to 2-3 cm below the initial cut to encourage fresh laterals and maintain a high yield.
🎯 Pruning is typically done in December or March after allowing the bush to grow 25 cm or more.
Fertilizer & Manure
🎯 After pruning, apply fertilizer mixtures with a ratio of 60 kg N, 30 kg P, and 30 kg K/ha in one or two doses. Nitrogen is crucial for promoting leaf growth.
🎯 Additionally, incorporate compost and utilize the benefits of leaf fall from leguminous shade trees as green manures in the soil.
Weed Control
🎯 Tea gardens are in good condition and are weeded 3 to 5 times during the rainy season.
🎯 Shade trees are pruned to promote lateral growth that will shade a larger area.
Disease
🎯 Major Disease: Blister blight, black root disease, Red or brown root disease.
🎯 Management: uproot then eliminate the infected plant, Dithane M-45 @ 30g/10 litres, Copper oxychloride 350g in 67 litres of water with power sprayer for the pruned field at 3-4 days intervals.
Insect Pest
🎯 Major Pest 🪳: Tea Mosquitoes, shot-hole borer, mites, Thrips etc.
🎯 Management: Collect and destroy eggs of pest, Spray 0.02% Malathion, extensively infected branches should be pruned, Heptachlor 20 EC is sprayed @ 8.5 L. in 675 Litre of water/ha.
Harvesting or Plucking
🎯 Harvesting of 2 or 3 leaves and bus is known as Plucking it's the most extensive operation in tea which determines the quality of produce. The harvesting period of a pluckable shoot is 60 to 90 days Since it germinates from axillary buds. When the seedling is plucked up to the mother leaf, it is called light plucking and if it is plucked below the mother leaf, it is called hard plucking.
Yield
🎯 The average yield is 10-15 t/ha.
reference
https://indiaagronet.com/indiaagronet/horticulture/CONTENTS/tea.htm