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Dry Matter Production and Partition in Relation to Yield of Tea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

M. J. S. Magambo
Affiliation:
Tea Research Institute of East Africa, PO Box 91, Kericho, Kenya
M. G. R. Cannell
Affiliation:
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0QB, Scotland

Summary

Tea yields of 1 to 4 t ha−1y−1 of dry shoot tips are much less than those of other vegetative crops like grasslands or forests growing in similar conditions, partly because plucking restricts tea biomass production, but mainly because the harvest index of tea is small. In Kenya, plucked tea produced 36% less biomass per hectare per year than unplucked tea, and 64% less wood. Only 8·3% of the total annual biomass increment was harvested. This proportion might be increased by plucking older leaves, increasing the shoot:root ratio, and by lowering the plucking table so that less wood was produced.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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