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[Sharon Chebet]

How can one improve the production of tea and what are the fertilizers that can be used.

 

[Alfred Opiyo]

How can one improve the production of tea and what are the fertilizers that can be used.

How can one improve the production of tea and what are the fertilizers that can be used.

Hello, kindly go through the abstract below which is about field management practices aiming to give result on sustainable tea fuel production and fertilizer recommendations.
Pruning
Reasons for Pruning
To maintain a manageable plucking table
To remove diseased, dead and knotted branches
To rejuvenate the plant.
Tools:
Pruning knife, file, graded/marked stick.
Timing:
Should coincide with the end of the peak-growing period (July – August) when there is still adequate moisture in the soil.
Method:
-The pruning should be a rim lung to the slope of the ground
-The cut on each stem should slope slightly
-To achieve the correct pruning height, a stick clearly marked at the required height is
placed vertically at the center of the bush.
-On sloping ground use a horizontal stick will be parallel to the ground at the correct
height.
-The pruning MUST NEVER be removed from the field.
They help:-
To suppress weeds
Prevent soil erosion
Improve soil structure
On decomposition release large amounts of plant nutrients into the top soil
Form a mulch which reduces loss of water be evaporation
NB:
a) If pruning is carried out during hot sunny weather, the pruning should be
Placed over the pruned bushes immediately to avoid sun scorch.
b) The speed of recovery of a bush depends on the plant’s starch reserves in the roots.
c) Since the starch reserves are used during the dry season to sustain the rest of the bus, the end of the dry season is a bad time to prune.
Pruning Heights:
-The first normal pruning is done 5 years after the field planting at 16”
-The duration of the successive prune depends on style of plucking, the nutrient status of the plant and the locality. Normally 3-4 years.
-The second pruning is done at 20”. Subsequent pruning are done 2” above the previous.
-After 28” down-prune at 21”. The pruning height should never go below 20”.
-Use a pruning knife and not a panga.
Tipping-in
Objectives
Done after pruning to produce a dense and upper level surface for efficient
Plucking and leave an adequate depth of maintenance foliage on the bush.
-Normal plucking should not start until the shoots are 6”-8” above pruning height. This ensures replacement of all food reserves used up in the development of new shoots.
-Tipping in height is best at 4” above pruning height.
-Use a tipping board or two pegs and a plucking stick to achieve an even plucking level.
-At least three rounds of tipping-in are carried out at the same level before normal plucking is introduced.
-Delay in tipping-in will result in buds just below tipping-in height becoming mature and thus will take longer to develop into new shoots.
Infilling - Disease and Pest
Cause of death of tea bushes
Bad weather
Mechanical damages e.g during weeding or pruning
Reasons for infillings:
a) For maximum utilization of land under tea
b) To reduce cost of weeding
-Done immediately after pruning or planting, incase of the young tea.
Hole size – twice the normal hole size of new planting i.e. 18th deep by 18” diameter.
Good Plucking
i) Pluck all the mature 2 leaves and a bud appearing above the plucking table, but leave the fish leaf on except occasionally when it can be plucked to even out the table. Use the plucking stick all the time.
ii) After plucking table must be broken back without delay. With proper timing of plucking round breaking back should be at a minimum.
iii) A good plucker must use both hands and carry a plucking basket on his back. Leaving the basket at one end and moving to and fro carrying leaves in the hands waste plucker’s time and causes heating up of leaf. Every plucker should aim at plucking at least 30kgs green leaf a day.
iv) Banjhi shoots above the table must be plucked in order to stimulate new actively growing plucking points.
v) Plucking Round:
a) The frequency of plucking or the plucking round is variable depending on the rate at which the tea produces new shoots after plucking. This may vary from 5 to 10 days. A grower should make all necessary effort to know when his tea is ready for plucking.
b) Growers with large holdings should divide up their plots into 2 or more portions such that each portion can conveniently be plucked in one day. This would also help to even out daily deliveries of leaf to the factories. A factory receiving too much leaf in one day is likely to make poor tea.
Field Planting
Spacing:
4ft x 2.5ft (4356) – Newly recommended
5ft x 2.5ft (3485) - Conventional
Holes:
9” x 18”. Double size for infilling i.e. 18” x 36”
Separate topsoil from sub-soil. Mix the top soil with 15gm D.A. P. or 30 gm of S.S.P before filling it into the hole.