Yield Decline in Vegetatively Propagated Tea (Camellia Sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) Under Continuous Mechanical Harvesting

Madamombe, Godwil; Taylor, Nigel J.; Tesfamariam, Eyob Habte

doi:10.17660/actahortic.2013.1007.102

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Further, smaller machines (BatFW and BatKW) removed immature shoots approximately 2-3 times as much as manual harvesting while it was four-fold with the large machine (PetKW). Non-selective mechanical harvesting removes immature shoots indiscriminately (Wijeratne, 2012; Madamombe et al, 2013) and reported a higher removal of immature shoots compared to manual harvesting (Figure 3). Removal of immature shoots (sink) contributes to less photo-assimilation through sink-source imbalance and subsequently, results in poor frame development (Figure 4) and depletion of root starch reserves (Figure 5) and thereby developing less healthy tea bushes with low yields (Table 1) (Wettasinghe et al, 1981;De Costa, 2004;Wijeratne, 2012;Madamombe et al, 2013).…”

Section: Immature (Arimbu) Shoots Picked and Dormant (Banji) Shoots L...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Being the most labour-intensive field operation, manual harvesting is so highly affected by labour scarcity that extension of the harvesting interval is very common. This reduces the number of shoot generations over a given period (Wijeratne, 2003;Nayasulu, 2006;Madamombe et al, 2013) and leads to a reduction in shoot density, and finally reduces tea yield (Wijeratne, 2012). Further, extended plucking rounds result in early dormancy (more banji) decreasing leaf quality drastically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, motorized harvesters extensively remove the maintenance foliage (Wijeratne, et al, 1996;Wijeratne, et al, 2000;Madamombe, 2013;Madamombe, et al, 2015), and disrupt source -sink balance affecting photosynthesis causing a shortage of carbohydrates for growth and maintenance (Madamombe, 2008;Wijeratne, 2012). Moreover, the very high severity (very hard) of harvesting posed by machines (Wijeratne, 2003;Mouli, 2007) for prolonged periods results in reductions in tea yield, pruning weight, shoot weight, shoot density, maintenance foliage, root starch reserves, and frame development (Visser, 1960 andWettasinghe et al, 1981).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Motorized Tea Harvesters on Tea Yield and Yield Determining Parameters

Pathiranage,

Wijeratne,

De Costa

2023

Trop. Agric. Res.

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Motorized tea harvesters vary in shoot cutting & collecting mechanisms and reported considerable yield decline in Sri Lanka. In this study, three non-selective harvesters were used to evaluate the impacts of different cutting & collecting mechanisms on tea yield-determining parameters compared to manual harvesting (control). The machines used were battery-operated Forbes & Walker harvester with helically arranged picking arms (BatFW), battery-operated Kawasaki harvester with reciprocating blades (BatKW), and petrol-driven Kawasaki harvester with reciprocating blades (PetKW). Tea yield, coarse leaf content, operational time, shoot compositions, branch girthing, and root starch content were recorded for one year. The motorized harvesters reduced tea yield by nearly 50% compared to the control. The number of machines required (units/ha/day) were 6, 4 and 2 for BatFW, BatKW and PetKW, respectively, as compared to eight manual pluckers and the corresponding land extents covered were 0.17, 0.25 and 0.47 (ha/unit/day), as against 0.13 in manual. Manual harvesting and BatFW consumed comparable higher worker requirements than the others. The average shoot weight and shoot density were the least affected by BatFW. The highest immature (arimbu) shoot removal was by PetKW. The highest dormant shoot accumulation in the plucking table was by BatFW. Reciprocating blades harvested more productively (700 g/cm/day) than picking arms (500 g/cm/day). All machines affected branch girthing and root starch reserves compared to manual harvesting. The mechanical impacts on yield determining parameters viz., immature shoot removal, accumulated dormant shoots, affected yield components, poor branch development, and depleted root starch reserves collectively resulted the tea yield reduction.

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Section: Immature (Arimbu) Shoots Picked and Dormant (Banji) Shoots L...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Motorized Tea Harvesters on Tea Yield and Yield Determining Parameters

Pathiranage,

Wijeratne,

De Costa

2023

Trop. Agric. Res.

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“…Dutta (2006) has identified that tea yield is dependent on land cover class and tea bush health. Overall tea productivity and quality is determined by solar radiation, plucking rounds, selection of genotypes, biomass in Tea plants, temperature, and biotic factors along with agronomic factors (Madamombe, 2016), Damodaran et al (2017) has revealed that yield of tea is well maintained in sloppy landscape with high on elevation andplucking is important with pruning to have new shoots with expected height of tea bush. Size of tea plantation has as strong relation with productivity of tea (George, 2020).…”

Section: Stgs Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Labour Productivity on Overall Tea Productivity in case of Small Tea Growers: A Study of Golaghat District in Assam

Kakoty

Kaurinta

2022

EJBMR

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The contribution of labour is vital in a labour-intensive production organization. The continuous growth of the farm is ensured by the labours participation. In recent years, the tea industry is facing an unexpected situation of labour supply which can be considered the problem due to changing dynamics. The emergence of small tea growers in place of an earlier form of large estates in the tea growing district of Assam seems to be prominent and a significant supplier of green leaves. It is observed that, it is over 23000 registered small tea growers under Tea Board of Indiathose who are by definition hasa plantation area of 10.12 ha or below and the question of labour productivity to the total tea productivity is of paramount importance. The study was conducted as descriptive by nature and a questionnaire was administered to extract the labour productivity in two ways such as man day plucking of labour and input –output ratio of labour to assess its contribution. Data collected was analysed to find out the correlation between labour productivity to the total productivity and whether the variances in between total productivity and labour productivity is similar. The study has concluded that although variations in the labour productivity and total productivity of tea are equal, they maintain a low correlation. In this regard, recommendations can be put forward like better skill formation of labour along with more stimulating benefits to them to boost motivation for ensuring growth and performance for small tea growers in Golaghat district of Assam.

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“…Tea is a labour intensive crop and the ready availability of labour for picking and processing is essential. With demographic changes, the youth population in rural areas tends to migrate to urban areas for better employment opportunities (Van der Wal, 2008;Illukpitiya et al, 2004;Kingsolver, 2010;Madamombe, 2013). This situation has been compounded by the introduction of mechanization that has led to job losses in field operations, even though mechanization has aided the production process.…”

Section: Challenges Facing the Tea Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Tea Industry and a Review of Its Price Modelling in Major Tea Producing Countries

Gunathilaka¹,

Tularam²

2016

JMS

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The global production and consumption of tea has been steadily increasing over the past decades. The tea industry has become a significant contributor to the economies of producing countries such as Kenya, Sri Lanka, India and China. Apart from its economic importance, the environmental and social importance of tea production has been recognised in the literature. However the industry is confronted by a number of challenges. These challenges include resource constraints, competition for land, unavailability of adequate labour, and climate change, as is noted in this article. All of the major tea producing countries have identified climate change as being a major challenge. Therefore, identification of the appropriate methods for modelling tea prices by incorporating a group of interacting time series variables such as price, production and weather variables to explain the dynamic relationships among these time series is important for producers. This article reviews and examines the approaches used to model tea price. In particular, various time series techniques are reviewed. The analysis clearly shows that quite a number of studies have been done on tea pricing. We found that VAR techniques have the ability to model the non-structural relationship of tea price alongside other time series variables which are endogenous and exogenous in nature. This paper also contributes to the existing literature by summarising the research undertaken on tea pricing to date.

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Yield Decline in Vegetatively Propagated Tea (Camellia Sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) Under Continuous Mechanical Harvesting

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Impact of Motorized Tea Harvesters on Tea Yield and Yield Determining Parameters

Impact of Motorized Tea Harvesters on Tea Yield and Yield Determining Parameters

Effect of Labour Productivity on Overall Tea Productivity in case of Small Tea Growers: A Study of Golaghat District in Assam

The Tea Industry and a Review of Its Price Modelling in Major Tea Producing Countries

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