Effects of water availability and pest pressures on tea (Camellia sinensis) growth and functional quality

Ahmed, Selena; Orians, Colin M.; Griffin, Timothy S.; Buckley, Sarabeth; Unachukwu, Uchenna; Stratton, Anne Elise; Stepp, John Richard; Robbat, Albert; Cash, Sean B.; Kennelly, Edward J.

doi:10.1093/aobpla/plt054

Cited by 36 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Farmers interviewed in Yunnan China confirm this finding; they believe tea quality varies by season and is especially affected by the arrival date of the East Asian Monsoon [18]. Another study in a controlled greenhouse environment found that tea grown with higher water availability had significantly lower concentrations of epigallocatechin 3-gallate, a flavonoid found in many teas that helps to drive quality of the consumable product [19]. Clearly, the monsoon rainfall plays a key role in plant growth and quality and harvesting decisions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Farmers in Yunnan province report some other strategies to address changes in precipitation patterns. These include planting tea from seed instead of using clonal propugules which have less dense and deep root systems; mixed cropping of tea gardens in forests; and enhancing the drainage of tea gardens [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are also reports that rains in excess of 5000 mm per year could affect tea growth success [28]. More generally, additional research has found that extreme rainfall can negatively affect tropical plant growth and development [19,44]. However, the upper threshold of rainfall (daily or at other temporal scales) has not been definitively ascertained according to our search of the literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The link between climate and tea production has been studied in detail in some parts of the world and in field-scale experiments [17][18][19]28]. However, no study to date has typified this association on a large scale or specific to the Chinese context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, we use surface radiation as our measure of daily sunlight and heat exposure rather than average daily maximum temperatures. We include in our analysis a variable representing average daily precipitation during all three estimated seasons since rainfall is such an important driver of tea yields [19]. We did not construct or use variables representing extreme weather events (i.e., high heat days, extreme rain days, etc.)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Association between Empirically Estimated Monsoon Dynamics and Other Weather Factors and Historical Tea Yields in China: Results from a Yield Response Model

Boehm

Cash

Anderson

et al. 2016

Climate

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Farmers in China's tea-growing regions report that monsoon dynamics and other weather factors are changing and that this is affecting tea harvest decisions. To assess the effect of climate change on tea production in China, this study uses historical weather and production data from 1980 to 2011 to construct a yield response model that estimates the partial effect of weather factors on tea yields in China, with a specific focus on East Asian Monsoon dynamics. Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kunze) has not been studied using these methods even though it is an important crop for human nutrition and the economic well-being of rural communities in many countries. Previous studies have approximated the monsoon period using historical average onset and retreat dates, which we believe limits our understanding of how changing monsoon patterns affect crop productivity. In our analysis, we instead estimate the monsoon season across China's tea growing regions empirically by identifying the unknown breakpoints in the year-by-province cumulative precipitation. We find that a 1% increase in the monsoon retreat date is associated with 0.481%-0.535% reduction in tea yield. In the previous year, we also find that a 1% increase in the date of the monsoon retreat is associated with a 0.604% decrease in tea yields. For precipitation, we find that a 1% increase in average daily precipitation occurring during the monsoon period is associated with a 0.184%-0.262% reduction in tea yields. In addition, our models show that 1% increase in the average daily monsoon precipitation from the previous growing season is associated with 0.258%-0.327% decline in yields. We also find that a 1% decrease in solar radiation in the previous growing season is associated with 0.554%-0.864% decrease in tea yields. These findings suggest the need for adaptive management and harvesting strategies given climate change projections and the known negative association between excess rainfall and delayed monsoon retreat on tea quality and yield.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%