9.

02

Production Production
State Area in ha.
(M.Kg.)

Assam
352 53.0
West Bengal 157 24.0
97,000
Tamil Nadu
37,000 85 13.0
Kerala
35,000 53 8.0
Karnataka
2,000 4 0.7
Other States
14,000 8 1.3

Total
659 100.0

India annually exports about 200 M.Kg. of tea (33%) fetching Rs.715
crores as foreign exchange which accounts for 7 percent of total foreign
exchange. A labour intensive crop providing direct employment to 10 lakhs
and also indirect employment to 10 lakhs people.

Botany
Tea belongs genus Camellia and family Camelliaceae. The
to the
original spegies which produce tea were C.assamica (Assam jats),
C.sinensis (China jats) and their natural hybrid, C.assamica subspecies
lasiocalyx (Indo China or cambod type.). Being a highly cross pollinated
crop, the present day seedling populations are mixture of both the above
two species, however, from their major share of characters-Assam or China
type can be distinguished by the following characters.

Assam China

1. •II is a tree It is a shrub

2. Few robust branches. Branches abundant and whippy.
3. Large, glossy leaves. Small leathery leaves.
4. Light tomedium green Dark green colour.
5. High yield and medium quality. Low yield but good quality.
6. Susceptible to drought and frost. Hardy and resistant.
7. Sparse flowering. Profuse flowering.

Morphologically, tea is an evergreen shrub or tree, leaves are simple,

altemate, serrate, flowere bisexual, with superior ovary, fruit is a capsule.
 9.03

Varieties

Clonal selection from seedling population was taken up by UPASI, Tea

Scientific Department, Cinchona and also by other Tea Research Institutes.
This has resulted in the release of a number of clones. UPASI has so far
released 27 clones. Certain outstanding clones released by other Institutes
are also used in South India. The important features ofthe promising clones
are alone presented below:

Clone Remarks
UPAS1-2 An average yielding clone, suitable for all elevations,

(Jayaram) tolerant to drought and wind.

UPAS1-3 Very high yielding and quality clone.

(Sundaram)

UPASI-€ Fares well at mid and higher elevations.

(Brooklands)

UPAS1-8 High yielding, suitable for all elevations.

(Golconda)

UPAS1-9 High yielding, fairly tolerant to drought, Can withstand

(Athrey) slightly high PH.
UPASI-IO Hardy clone, resistant to drought and wind; suitable for
(Pandian) high elevation.

UPAS1-14 Quality clone, suitable for higher elevations.

(Singara)

UPAS1-17 A high yielding clone.

TRI-2024 High yielding clone.
(Sri Lanka)
TRI-2025 Average yielding; hardy clone.
(Sri Lanka)

Climate and Soil

Tea is exacting in its climatic requirements. The temperature may vary

from 16 to 320C and annual rainfall should be 125 to 150 cm which is well
distributed over 8-9 months in a year. The atmospheric humidity should be
always around 80% during most of the time. Very dry atmosphere is not
 9.04

is grown in plains in Nonh Eastem States but in South

congenial for tea. It
India, grown in hill ranges from
it is to 2200 m above M.S.L. Tea is a
calcifuge crop requiring comparatively low amounts of calcium but high
quantities of potassium and silicon. They can be grown in lateritic, alluvial
and peaty soils. Optimum pH range is 4.5 to 5.0 and soil depth should be
1.0 to 1.5m.

Pmpagation
Tea can be propagated by seed and by cuttings. Seed propgation is
seldom practised now. Seeds collected from the fnrits of seed baries are
soaked in water and only heavy seeds which sink are alone used for sowing
in beds. Germination occurs in 20 to 30 days. At that stage they are carefully
lifted and transplated in polythene sleeves. They will be ready for planting
in 9 months.

Vegetative pmpagation: The site for the nursery can be selected in a flat
land or gentle slope, near to a perennial water source and easily accessible
by road. It should have a good drainage and should be protected from wind,
frost and wild animals etc. Approximately, 0.15 ha nursey area is required
to produce 1.25 lakhs cuttings. area is to be provided with overhead
shade by erecting concrete or storr pillars at a spacing of 3 x 3 m
and spread
with 6 mm2 mesh double strand coirmat which provi&s about 67 percent
shade.

Mother leaf

Fig.12 Single node cutüng Tea

The cuttings for rooting are collected from mother bushes which are
well maintained near the nursery area. Such mother bushes are pruned well
in to induæ juvenile shoots. Tbese juvenile shoots are mllected
in the moming hours and 3 cm long cutting each with a healthy mother leaf
and an active axilla" bud is prepared (Fig.12). (>ttings from top tender
and bottom brown wood slould be avoided. These cuttings are planted in
 9.05

polythene sleeves (30 cm x 10 cm x 150 gauge), filled with growing

medium (Jungle soil: river sand 3 1 ) in the bottom and rooting medium
:

(Red/sub soil: sand: 1 in the top 8-10 cm. The soil used for rooting media
should have an optimum pH range of 4.8 to 5.0, if high, ie. 5.1 to 5.5, or
5.6 to 6.0, it must be drenched with 1 or 2% aluminium sulphate solution
respectively @ 1 litre per cubic foot of soil. This treatment should follow
with drenching of twice the volume of plain water to wash excess
aluminium sulphate. The cuttings are carefuly planted at the centre of the
sleeves in such a way that the petiole should not touch the soil and then
they are watered. These sleeves are then covered with polythene sheets over
the G.I. wire arches and the sides are tugged well to preserve moisture
content. Callusing starts in 4-6 weeks and rooting occurs in 10 to 12 weeks.
When 80 percent of the cuttings have rooted, the tents are opened in stages
and the overhead shade is gradually reduced to hardcn the plants.

Grating: Recently cleft grafting of single nodal cuttings of two.varieties

in the nursery and callusing them in the nursery to develop a composite
plant has been followed to take advantage of drought tolerant clones as
stocks and high yielding and quality clonesas scions.

Planting
The land is cleared of the roots of the fallen trees and drains are taken
depending upon the slope to conserve the soil. In the
at suitable intervals
olden days, up and down system of planting at 1.2 x 1.2m are followed.
Presently, contour planting either in a single hedge or double hedge system
is follwed.

Style Spacing Population/ha.

1. Up and down 1.2x1.2 m

6,800

2. Contour planting single 1.2xO.75

10,800
hedge
3. Contour planting double 1.35xo.75xo.75
13,200
hedge.

The last method has many advantages over the first two viz., early and
high yield, better soil conservation, less weed growth in the hedge and

efficient cultural practices. Planting season normally coincides with

June/July and September/October for South West monsoon and North East
 9.06

monsoon areas. Pits of 30 x 30 x 45 cm size are dug and plants of 12-15

months old are planted by removing the polythene sleeves. Immediate after
planting, plants are staked to prevent wind damage.

Aner care
Immediately after planting, the soil surface around the plants should
be mulched, usually cut grasses of gautemala is employed for this purpose.
About 25 tonnes of grass is required to mulch one hectare. Care must be
taken to keep the mulch materials away from the collar region lest they may
cause collar diseases. If there is a dry weater, mud tubes or etah tubes may
be buried 15cm deep near the plant in a slanting position and one litre of
water per plant may be poured or injected at weekly intewals. This subsoil
irrigation helps to minimise the casuality besides encourages to develop
deeper roots.

Shade and its management: Tea requires filtered shade and if it is exposed
to direct sun, its growth is affected. Shade is hence essential and beneficial
to tea as

1. It regulates the temperature.

2. It minimises the effects of drought and radiation injury.

3. It increases the soil fertility (leaf litter adds about 8-10 tonnes of
organic matter per ha/year).

4. It helps in recycling of nutrients.

5. It helps in getting even distribution of crop.

6. It serves as wind break.

7. It reduces the incidences of pests.

8. It generates additional income by way of timber and fuel.

The main drawbacks of shade are 1) increased incidence ofblister blight

2) competition with main crop for moisture and nutrients and 3) reduced
response to applied fertilizers.

In South India, Silver oak (Grevillea robusta) is used as the permanent

shade tree as it possesses the desirable characters of a good shade tree like

I. Itmust be an evergreen tree, easy to propagate having quick growing

and deep rooted characters.
 9.07

2. It provides filtered shade and withstands frequent lopping.

3. It tolerates wind and frost.

4. It does not have allelopathic effect.

5. It has commercial timber value also.

The seeds of silver oak are very light and fresh seeds are sown in the
raised beds in line at 5 x 2.5 cm spacing during December/January and
covered with thin layer of sand. They germinate in 10 to 20 days. When
they develop first pair of leaves, they are pricked and transplanted in the
polythene sleeve and kept in shaded area. Shade is gradually removed to
harden them. Six to nine months old seeds are ready for planting.

Silver oak seedlings are initially planted along the tea rows at 6m x 6m
spacing. As and when they grow, lower brancheS may be lifted periodically.
When it attains 8 to 9m height, the tree is pollarded at a site having a girth
of 10 to 15cm. Below the pollarded site, one branch in each direction may

be left in 3 to 4 tiers and the excess ones are removed. Before every
monsoon, the lateral branches, erect growing branches and shoot growth
in the main stem are removed.

When they are about 10 years old, shade trees are thinned out before
pruning season by removing the alternate trees in the east-west rows. Such
treesearmarked for felling should be ringbarked 2 years prior to felling to
have lesser•starch reserves in the stump.

In mid elevation till silver oak seedlings grow, temporary shades are
employed. Indigofera teysmanii is normally planted at 3 x 3 spacing. m
They are removed once silver oak trees get established. In frost prone areas,
instead of Grevilleas, another shade tree viz., seedlings ofAcacia mearnsii
are planted at 3 x 3 m spacing and are pollarded at 3m height. Being a
shallow rooted and surface feeding tree, these trees are replaced once in
two pruning cyclgs.

Weed contml: Weeds will be a problem in young and pruned fields.

Manual weeding is never recommended in tea lest more soil erosion and
damage to surface roots and collar regions. Hence, the following chemical
weed control is alone recommended in tea.
 9.08

Type of weeds Herbicides Dosage

Dicots Paraquat (gramoxone) 1.12 lit./ha.

Dicots Sodium salt of 2,4-D 1.4 kg.ma.

(Femoxone)

Grasses 2,2-Dichloro propionic 5.6 kg./ha.

acid (Dalapon)

Glyphosate 2.3 lit./ha.

Training young tea: In the young tea, when it has established well,
centering ie. removing the growing point leaving 8 to 10 mature leaves
from the bottom, is done to induce secondaries. When the secondaries reach
more than 60 cm, they are tipped at 50-55 cm height by removing 3 to 4
leaves and bud to induce tertiaries. Therefore, plucking at mother leaf stage
is continued for better frame development. It takes nearly 18 to 20 months

from planting to reach regular plucking field stage.

Pruning : Pruning is done in tea (1) to maintain the convenient height for
plucking(2) to induce more vegetative growth (3) to remove dead and
defunct_wood and (4) to remove the knots and interlaced branches. Pruning
is normally done 4 to 6 years interval depending upon the altitude of the
garden, nature of the tea materials etc. The bushes marked for pruning
should have adequate starch reserves in roots otherwise the sprouting
following pruning will be less. This can be normally tested by the common
Iodine test and if the starch reserve is less, bushes are allowed to rest for 2
to 3 months. The different types of pruning are as follows:-

Pruning Season Remarks

Type of pruning height (cm)

1. Rejuvenation 20-ChinaJat April-May Done in old bushes

pruning 30-Assam Jat affected with canker and
wood rot to invigorate
the new healthy
branches. Not done
regularly.
 9.09

2. Hard 30-45 Apr. - May First formative pruning

pruning done to a young tea.

3. Medium 45-60 Aug. - Sept. Normal pnining where-

pruning ever frames are healthy.

4. Light pruning 60-65 Aug. - Sept. Normal pruning wrrre-

ever frames are healthy.

5. Skiffing 65 Aug. - Sept. Mainly to postpone

pruning and to
encourage better frame
development.

Immediately after the rejuvenation or hard pruning, the cut ends are
smeared with a paste made of copper oxychloride and linseed oil (1:1). The
prunings, consisting of only small twigs and leaves are buded in trenches
of 30 cm width and 45 cm depth taken across the slope in altemate rows.
The pruned bushes are given washing with 10% lime solution using No.IV
nozzle of power sprayers in order to kill the epiphytic growth of moss and
lichen to induce early and even bud break. lime washing also
minimises sunscorch to tlE bush frame.

Aperiodic shoot

Fig.13 Aperiodic shoot in pruned tea bush

 9.10

The buds from the pruned shoots grow in steady succession

any cessation of growth. These are known as a periodic shoots or primary
shoots (Fig. 13). These primary .shoots slmld be (fig. 14) induced to
produce flush shoots, otherwise known as periodic by regular
tipping operation. Tipping is the removal of terminal portion of
the shoot and it varies with jats and pruting height as given below. Tipping
height refers to the number of leaves that must be left above the pruned cut
while tipping in material refers to that portion of the terminal shoot which
must be tipped off.

Banji bud

Mother leaf

Fish leaf

Cataphyll scale

Scale leaf

Scar of scale leaf

Fig. 14 Periodic shoot in Tea

Pruning height(an) Tipping height (cm) Tipping in material

Hybrid Assam Hybrid Assam Hybrid Assam

Hybrid Hybrid Hybrid
35-45 35 - 55 5 4 3 leaves 4 leaves
and a bud and a bud

45-55 55-60 4 3 4 leaves 4 leaves

and a bud and a bud

55-75 60-75 2 2 4 leaves 4 leaves

and a bud and a bud
 9.11

1 4 leaves
and a bud

Manuring
Tea responds to manuring and it has been estimated that to produce 100
kg. of made tea, tea plant utilises
on an average 10.2, 3.2 and 5.4 kg. of N.
P205 and K20 per ha. Manuring in tea starts from nursery stage itself. Once
they strike roots (after 4 months) 30 g of soluble mixtures (Ammonium
phosphate (20:20) 35 pans, potassium sulphate and Magnesium sulphate
each 15 parts and zinc sulphate-3 parts) is dissolved in 10 litres of water
and is applied with rosecan for about 900 plants. This must be repeated at
15 days intervals.

Manuring to the tea in the field deponds on many factors viz., young or
mature tea, organic and nutrient status ofthe soil, soil pH, nature of pruning
and yield potential of the tea bushes.

Nitmgen: The recommendation for mature tea is based mostly on soil

organic matter status and anticipated yield. For a field with medium organic
matter status the following rates of application is suggested for every 100
kg. of made tea anticipated:

Rate of Nitmgen
No. of
Yield level (kg/ha) (for 100 kg. or
split applications
made tea)
<3000 10 kg 4

3000 8 kg

3000 and above 9 kg 6

Twenty percent of the total nitrogen is given in the form of Ammonium

sulphate during March/ApriI. Urea is recommended in May/June and
receding monsoon months avoiding very wet and very dry periods and it
will come to 65% of total nitrogen. Fifteen percent of the total nitrogen is
applied in the form of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate during pre-winter

(NovemberDecember).

Potassium: Nitrogen and potassium are always applied together. NK ratio

of 1:1 is used for plucking fields while for a pruned field 2:3 NK ratio is
recommended. For rejuvenation pruned field 1:2 NK ratio is suggested.
 9.12

The enhanced rates of potassium application in the pruned year is to

encourage formation of healthy frames. Muriate of potash is the source of
potassium used in tea fields. The NK fertilizers are applied by broadcast
for mature tea and is broadcast and dibbled in along the drip circle for young
tea. The intewal between two successive applications should be atleast 3-4
weeks.

Phosphorus: This nutrient is applied once in alternate years @

90 kg P2
05/ha for fields yielding less than 3000 kgma. For fields yielding between
3000 and 4500 kgma, 60 to 80 kg P2 05 is recommended every year. For
very high yielding fields (> 4500 kg/ha) 80 to 100kg P2 05/ha is suggested
every year. The soils being acidic, rock phosphate could be advantageously
used. The fertilizer should be placed at 15-22cm depth.

Micro nutrients: Among the micronutrients, zinc deficiency is often

manifested in young shoots characterised by reduced leaf size, rosetting,
chlorosis and formation of more banji shoots. Application of zinc sulphate
@6to 8 kg/ha for high yielding fields every year is the general recommen-
dation. The above quantity can be given in 4 to 5 split applications during
the high cropping months ie. during April/May and September/October. It

has been found beneficial to combine other micronutirents viz., Manganese

[email protected] g/10 litres and boric [email protected] g/10 litres of spray volume
along with zinc sulphate spray.

Liming: In the hill soils, due to the leaching of bases.by rain and also due
to the incessant application of acid forming fertilizers, the soil pH is often
reduced which affects the physical and chemical properties of soil. There-
fore, periodical application of lime is es'ential to amend the soil and

maintain optimum PH. Agricultural lime (Calcium carbonate) and

dolomitic lime (Calcium Magnesium carbonate) are generally recom-
mended for tea soils. The rate of application is based on soil pH, rainfall,
and length of the pruning cycle. Roughly lime@ 1.5mt/ha
fertiliser usage
for apH between 4.5 t04.9, 3.0 mt/ha for a pH between 4.0 to 4.4 and 4.0
mt/ha for a pH of less than 4.0 is suggested.

The lime is applied by evenly broadcasting prior to pruning once in a

pruning cycle. First manuring following liming can be had after 6 weeks
and a minimum of 15 cm rainfall should have been received during this
period.
 9.13

Plucking

Plucking consists of harvesting 2 to 3 leaves and a bud. (Fig. ) It is the

most labour intensive operation in a tea industry and also decides the yield
and quality of made tea. Normally, a pluckable shoot takes to 90 days
for harvesting since its sprouting from the axillary buds. When the shoot
is plucked upto mother leaf, it is known as light plucking and if it is plucked
below mother leaf, it is called hard plucking. The plucking interval and
plucking standard in relation to cropping is given below:-

Months PlucHng
Cropping pa ttern interval

High cropping or - June

April 7 - 10 days
Rush cropping (60% of and
total crop) October - December

Low cropping or July - September 12 -15 days

lean cropping (40% of and
total crop) January - March

It is essential to add one tier of active maintenance foliage to the bush

every year. This is done by mother leaf plucking during January to March.
During the rest of the period level plucking can be carried out.

Consequent to plucking, bush height increases every year in the order

of 10 cm over tipping height in the first year, 7.5 cm, 7.5 cm, 5 cm and 5cm
over the previous year height in the second, third, fourth and fifth year
respectively.

In some places, a scissor like mechanica I shea r harvester is employed

to pluck during the high cropping period. It helps to manage the high crop
and overcome labour scarcity.

Yield

Yield of made tea per hectare deponds upon many factors such as
management practices, severity of prun-
elevation, clonal or seedling jats,
ing, processing techniques etc., Generally, in tea industry, a field which

yields upto 2000 kg of made tea/ha is considered as low yielding and 2000
to 3000 kg. as medium yielding and anything above SOOO kg as high
yielding fields.
 9.14

Manufacturing of tea

Basically, there are two types of processing viz., 1. Orthodox method

in which the rolling operation is done in a series of rollers. The rollers have
rotary tables with battens, jacket for loading the leaf and a pressure cup. 2)
CTC method (cutting, tearing and curling) which has a CTC machine,
consisting of series of a pair of rollers mounted in such a way they rotate
in opposite directions and the clearance between them is so adjusted to
crush and tear the leaves. Irrespective of the method, manufacturing of tea
involves the follwing steps:

I. Withering: The objective of withering is to reduce the moisture content

of leaves by spreading them in troughs which receive artificial air from fan
fitted on one end. At the end of withering, the leaves attain a flaccid
condition forwhich it may take 12 to 18 hours deponding upon the weather
condition.

2. Rolling: This operation is carried on by a series of machines or in a single

roller, during which the cells in the leaves are broken to liberate the sap
containing the polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme, which in the presence of
oxygen, oxidises the polyphenols to produce theanavins and
thearubigens. These are responsible for colouring of the tea and is a
prerequisite for next process viz., fermentation. Rolling takes place for
30-40 minutes. Afterwards, the fine sifted rolled ones are sent for fermen-
tation while the coarse ones are again sent for rolling.

3. Fermentation: Rolled tea materials are either spread in concrete floors

or kept in aluminium trays. In the presence of high humidity and proper
temperature, the properly fermented tea will take golden red colour. This
and briskness of tea. Fermen-
step decides the quality ie. strength, colour
tation requires one hour or 2 hours depending upon the environmental
conditions.

4.Drying: This step aims at stopping the fermentation process and slowly
removing the moistu:e content without a burnt smell but preserving the
inherent quality. This is achieved by passing the fermented tea in thin layers
through conveyors into a drier in which the inlet temperature is maintained
around 250-2800F and outlet temperature is a round 150-2000F. Proper
drying takes 30-40 minutes.

S.Grading: Before grading, the dried tea is removed of the stalky fibres,
which affect the quality, by passing through fibre separater machines. The
 9.15

bulk tea is passed through different sized meshes which aid in separation
into different grades.

Orthodox g•ades Mesh size CTC Grades Mesh size

1. Pekoe >8 mesh sieve Flowery > 8 mesh
Pekoe (FP)

2. Tippy golden 8-12 Pekoe 8-10

Orange pekoe
(TGOP)
3. Broken orange 12-16 BOP 10-12
pekoe (BOP)
4. BOP-Fannings 16-18 Pekoe 12-16
Fannings

5. BOP-dust 18-24 BOP-fannings 16-20

6. Dust-I 25-30 Pekoe dust (PD) 20-30

7. Dust-II Below 30 Red Dust (RD) 30-40

8. Super Reddust 40-50

(SRD)
9. Finel dust(PD) 50-60

10. Superfine dust below 60

(SD)

Plant Protection: Many pests and diseases are known to infect tea bushes
and cause economic losses. The important pests and diseases, their typical
symptoms and control measures are alone furnished below:-

Pest Symptoms Control measures

1. Red coffee Larva borers the young Affected stems are cut
borer stem, tunnels downward upto the healthy and
(Zeuzera Aldrin/heptachlor is

coffeae) poured in the hole using

ink filler and pluged with
clay paste
 9.16

2. Phassus borer Larva bores thick Affected stems are cut

(Sahydrassus branches and makes long upto the healthy and
malabariczas) cylindrical tunnels, Aldrin/heptachlor is
pluging the entry hole poured in the hole using
withfhewed wood and ink fillerandplugedwith
silk clay paste

3. Shot-hole borer Grubs make a typical Badly affected branches

(Xyleborus shot-hole on tlr branches are pruned off.
fornicatus) and inside gallaries. A
Heptachlor 20. EC is
serious problem in low [email protected] in 675 lit.
and mid elevation areas of water/ha on the pruned
frames and prunings

4. Red spider mite

Infests upper surface of Tetradifon (8 EC) 1 to

(Oligonychus mature leaves 1.25 lit/ha.

coffeae)

5. Scarlet mite Discolouration of leaves Dicofol or Ethion

(Brevipalpus often leads to defoliation @1 lit.ma.

californi•us)

6. Purple mite Leaves exhibit smoky Dicofol or Ethion

(Calacarus grey colour @1 lit./ha.

carinatus)

Pink mite Young leaves turn pale Dicofol or Ethion

(Acaphylla and get twisted. @1 lit./ha.

theae)

8. Yellow mite Infest pluckable shoot, Dicofol or Ethion

(Polyphagota leaves become rough, @ I lit./ha.
rsonemus brittle and corky in under
latus) surface.

9. Thrips Leaf surface becomes Phosalone or endosulfon

(Scirtothrips uneven, curly and metty, 1 lit.Aa.

bispinosus) exhibiting parallel lines

of feeding marks on
either side of the midrib
 9.17

10. Nematodes Occur in tea nursery, Pre heat treatement of

(Meloidogyne infested roots develop soilmedia upto 60-800 C
javanica, galls. and application of
M. incognita) carbofuran 3G@
80g./
cubic metre of medium.

Diseases

I. Blister blight Infects tender leaves Copper oxychloride

(Exobasidium and stem and develops 350 g. in 67 lit. of water
vexans) translucent spot. Cloudy with power sprayer for
and wet weather favour pruned field at 3-4 days
infection. interval. In the plucking
field210 g copper
Oxychloride + 210 g.
Nickel chloride in 45 lit.
of water/ha. at 7 days
interval.

2. Black root Infested roots show black The soil may be

diseases mycelium on the roots, drenched with Dithane
(Rosellinia white star shaped M.45 @30g/10 litres.

arcuata) mycelium between bark

and wood and Black lead
shot like perithecia seen
on collar region.

3. Red root Infected roots exhibit 1. Take trenches of 1.2m

disease blood red mycelium deep and 45 cm width
(Poru on washing. It spreads sorrounding the infected
hypolater- fast but slowly kills. bushes and uproot and
itia) burn the bushes insitu.

4. Brown root Infected root wood

disease turns soft and spongy, it 2. Rehabilitate soil with
(Fomes noxius) spreads slowly but kills gautemala grass.
quickly.

5. Root splitting Infected roots develop 3. Soil fumigation with

disease crack, showing shoe-lace methyl bromide or a
(Armillaria like rhizomorphs. Metham sodium carbon
mellea) di sulphide.
 TEA

Tea (Camellia sp.)

Family: Camelliaceae

Tea, the oldest known beverage, is native of China in South East Asia.
It was known to the Chinese as early as 2737 BC, but attained the status of
a popular drink in England in 1664 A.D. It was planted on a large scale in
North India in 1834 while in South India from 1859 to 1897 in different
tea growing districts.

As on today, 38 countries grow tea and among which India, China, Sri
Lanka and Indonesia have major share in area and production. India is the
largest producer, consumer and exporter in tea industry. The area and
production of major tea growing states of India is as follows:-