UNIT 7 ORGANIC TEA - Vegetableipmasia.org

Production and
Management of Tea
fields. The annual average addition of organic matter through leaf fall from
shade trees is estimated to be between 2.5 to 5.0 tonnes of dry matter per ha.
In the year of pruning, burial of prunings in staggered trenches in alternate
rows will be useful in areas where annual rainfall is below 1500 mrn. The
amount of dry matter returned to the soil by retention of pruning in mature
fields is nearly 14 tonnes in a pruning cycle.
Nitrogen can also be supplied by regular bppings of low and medium shade
trees and leguminous trees (Gliricidia sepium and Gliricidia maculata), which
can be grown along roadsides and other vacant ~atches. Bone meal, fishmeal,
and other manures of organic origin can alio be used if available from
unpolluted environment.
Phosphorus (P) : In the new clearings phosphorus should be applied @
90 kg/hal year (23 g of rock phosphate or 35 g of mussorie phosphate per
plant). It should be applied by placement at 10 to 22.5 cm depth in holes
made by crowbar on both sides of tea bushes on the upper side of the slope.
In established plantations, the soil available P should be maintained at or
above 22 ppm. Phosphorus may be applied @ 60 to 80 kg/ha in the first and
third years as placement based on soil test values.
Potassium: Requirement of potassium in organic tea is usually met by the
addition of wood ash @ 500 kgha preferably in dry period by broadcasting
15 cm away from the collar of bushes. Wood ash may be applied only in
mature tea fields except in the pruned year, preferably in dry periods. If
potash deficiency is continued to be seen and the exchangeable potassium
level in the soil is low, patentkalli, a naturally mined potash fertilizer need to
be applied @ 200 kg per hectare.
Foliar application:
Two application of Zinc sulphate @ 2 kgha can be given every year
after getting necessary approval from the certifying agency.
In biodynamic fields, cow urine one litre in 10 liters of water, can also
be applied once a month between January and March.
Weed extract can be prepared in a barrel of 200 litres of capacity. One
third of the barrel may be filled with plant materials such as Erythrina,
Cmtalaria and other weeds and the balance with water. After allowing
it to mature for 3 to 4 months it can be used. The suggested dilution rate
is 20 litres of weed extract in 200 litres of water per hectare.
Cow dung solution can be prepared by filling one third of the drum with
fresh cow dung and topping the rest of the volume with water. After 10 days,
the solution is stirred everyday. The total volume needs to be maintained
by adding water if required. After three months it will be ready for use. It
can be sprayed @ 20 litres in 200 litres of water per hectare. All the above
liquid manures should be properly filtered and then used for spraying.
Biodynamic (BD) formulations are also used. BD 500 (75 g in 40 liter of
water per hectare) is applied to the soil, B.D. 501 (2.5 g in40 litres of water)
is applied twice in a year over the canopy of bushes early in the morning,
Cow Pat Pit (CPP) manure is applied once every month during April, May
and September to November @ 5 kg /ha in 100 litres of water per hectare.