Intensity of Harvesting in Tea

Mouli, M R Chandra; Onsando, J. M.; Corley, R. H. V.

doi:10.1017/s0014479706004212

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In our experiments, with shorter intervals, mature leaf and 4+bud shoots ranged from 17% to 25% with different clones under Treatment C, compared to 4% to 11% with hand plucking, but with all treatments there was only a small proportion of mature leaf ( Table 2). Visser (1960) and Chandra Mouli et al (2007) showed that harder plucking increases yields, and these results confirm this. However, there is a widespread view among tea planters that hard plucking can damage the bush, and in these experiments, under very hard harvesting with almost no table rise for eight years, bush appearance was poor, LAI was only 3.5, and there was die-back from plucked points.…”

Section: Qualitymentioning

confidence: 64%

“…Intensity of harvest (IoH) was measured directly in 2003, using the method described by Chandra Mouli et al (2007). This involved recording the number of leaves remaining on plucked stumps immediately after harvesting of three bushes per plot, using a 700 cm² quadrat.…”

Section: Recordingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Direct measurements of IoH were started in 2003, by counting leaves on the stumps remaining on the bush immediately after harvest as described by Chandra Mouli et al (2007). Results are summarised in Table 4.…”

Section: Intensity Of Harvest and Bush Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also recorded increased shoot numbers in short-term experiments with other clones. Harder plucking is expected to increase shoot number (Chandra Mouli et al, 2007;Visser, 1960), while extending the harvest interval will reduce number, so the net effect of changes in both intensity and interval on harvested shoot number may differ between clones.…”

Section: Components Of Yieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shoot numbers depend on growth rate and shoot generation time, density of plucking points and shoot replacement ratio (e.g., Stephens and Carr, 1994). Harvest intensity also affects yield: 'hard' plucking (shoots plucked close to the base, with no leaves left behind) generally gives greater yield than 'light' plucking (shoots plucked above the oldest 1 or 2 leaves) (Chandra Mouli et al, 2007;Visser, 1960), though the effect on the total photosynthetic surface needs to be considered.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Effect of Mechanical Harvesting on Yield and Quality of Tea in Tanzania

Rutatina¹,

Corley²

2018

Ex. Agric.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYHand plucking of tea is labour intensive, and with rising labour costs mechanical harvesting (MH) is of increasing interest. However, effects of MH on yield and quality of tea remain unclear. We harvested two tea clones for eight years with a small, wheeled machine, to investigate effects of different cutting heights on yield and quality. The harvest interval for machine plots was 40% longer than for hand plucking in the first three years and 100% longer thereafter. The yield response, relative to hand plucking, depended on cutting height. Provided that increase in bush height (table rise) was 6 cm per year or less, yields were 15–21% higher than with hand plucking and increased yield was still being maintained after eight years. The increase in yield appeared to be mainly attributable to the longer harvest interval for machine plots, so that larger shoots were harvested. There was no increase in the number of shoots harvested per year, despite more intensive plucking with the machine. In less intensively harvested plots, where table rise was 11–14 cm per year, yield was reduced compared to hand plucking, and shoot number was nearly 30% lower. Dry matter production was greatest under the least intensive harvesting, but greater intensity gave higher harvest index and yield. In plots with no table rise, but not in other plots, a large amount of die-back of plucked points was observed. This may indicate source limitation of shoot numbers. We conclude that, with an extended harvest interval and careful management of cutting height, the yield of tea can be maintained under MH. There was a reduction in green leaf quality, with coarser shoots and increased mature leaf, but a limited number of taster evaluations of quality of the black tea showed significant differences for only one clone.

show abstract

Section: Qualitymentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Recordingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intensity Of Harvest and Bush Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Components Of Yieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations