Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:37:05.222Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Responses of Tea (Camellia sinensis) to Irrigation and Fertilizer. IV. Shoot Population Density, Size and Mass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

William Stephens  and
M. K. V. Carr
William Stephens
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Water Management, Silsoe College, Cranfield University, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4DT, England
M. K. V. Carr
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Water Management, Silsoe College, Cranfield University, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4DT, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Shoot population densities, stages of development (that is, the number of leaves per shoot) and shoot mass were recorded on an irrigation × fertilizer experiment at the Ngwazi Tea Research Unit in Southern Tanzania from 1986 to 1990. Over this period the mean basal shoot population density increased from about 310 to 560 m−2, with peaks of over 850 m−2 in high-input plots. Large fertilizer application rates increased both the total number of shoots per unit area and the proportion that were actively growing. By contrast, the main effect of water stress was to delay the peak shoot population density from the warm-dry season until the early rains without affecting the annual mean. Overall, between 20 and 60% of the harvested shoots were dormant, depending on season and fertilizer application rate. Of the active shoots harvested, about two thirds had two leaves and a terminal bud whilst the remainder were split almost equally between shoots with one or three leaves. The fresh mass of individual shoots was linearly related to the number of leaves, with the slope of the line (0.16–0.35 g leaf−1) largely dependent on the season and irrigation treatment. The dry matter content of shoots varied in the range 19–30%, and was primarily determined by the season. The dry matter content was also affected by the treatments and was decreased by irrigation in the dry season and by fertilizer in the wet season. Alternative models for predicting annual yields (based on the components of yield) and seasonal yield variations (based on dry matter production and partitioning) are discussed.

Densidad de poblacióon tamaño y masa de los brotes de té

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , April 1994 , pp. 189 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bowen, G. D. (1984). Tree roots and the use of soil nutrients. In Nutrition of Plantation Forests, 147–179 (Eds Bowen, G. D. and Nambiar, E. K. S.). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cannell, M. G. R. (1985). Dry matter partitioning in tree crops. In Attributes of Trees as Crop Plants, 160–193 (Eds Cannell, M. G. R. and Jackson, J. E.). Huntingdon: ITE/NERC.Google Scholar
Carr, M. K. V. (1974). Irrigating seedling tea in Southern Tanzania: Effects on total yields, distribution of yield and water use. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 83: 363–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, M. K. V., Dale, M. O. & Stephens, William (1987). Yield distribution in irrigated tea (Camellia sinensis) at two sites in Eastern Africa. Experimental Agriculture 23: 75–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, M. K. V. & Stephens, William (1992). Climate, weather and the yield of tea. In Tea: Cultivation to Consumption, 87–135 (Eds Willson, K. C. and Clifford, M. N.). London: Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapin, F. S. III (1990). Effects of nutrient deficiency on plant growth: evidence for a centralized stress-response system. In Importance of Root to Shoot Communications in the Response to Environmental Stress. Monograph 21, 135–148 (Eds Davies, W. J. and Jeffcoat, B.). Bristol: British Society for Plant Growth Regulation.Google Scholar
Fordham, R. & Palmer-Jones, R. W. (1977). Simulation of intraseasonal yield fluctuations of tea in Malawi. Experimental Agriculture 13: 33–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanks, R. J., Keller, J., Ramussen, V. P. & Wilson, G. D. (1976). Line source sprinkler for continuously variable irrigation-crop production studies. Soil Science America Journal 44: 426–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linder, S. & Rook, D. A. (1984). Effects of mineral nutrition on carbon dioxide exchange and partitioning of carbon in trees. In Nutrition of Plantation Forests, 211–236 (Eds Bowen, G. D. and Nambiar, E. K. S.). London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Morgan, D. D. V. & Carr, M. K. V. (1988). Analysing line source irrigation experiments. Experimental Agriculture 24: 169–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odhiambo, H. O. (1989). Nitrogen rates and plucking frequency on tea: the effect of plucking frequency and nitrogenous fertilizer rates on yield and yield components of tea, (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) in Kenya. Tea 10: 90–96.Google Scholar
Pereira, J. S. (1990). Whole-plant regulation and productivity in forest trees. In Importance of Root to Shoot Communications in the Response to Environmental Stress. Monograph 21, 237–250 (Eds Davies, W. J. and Jeffcoat, B.). Bristol: British Society for Plant Growth Regulation.Google Scholar
Squire, G. R. (1979). Weather, physiology and seasonality of tea (Camellia sinensis) yields in Malawi. Experimental Agriculture 15: 321–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, G. R. & Callander, B. A. (1981). Tea plantations. In Water Deficits and Plant Growth 6, 471–510 (Ed. Kozlowski, T. T.). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Stephens, William & Carr, M. K. V. (1990). Seasonal and clonal differences in shoot extension rates and numbers in tea (Camellia sinensis). Experimental Agriculture 26: 83–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, William & Carr, M. K. V. (1991 a). Responses of tea (Camellia sinensis) to irrigation and fertilizer. I. Yield. Experimental Agriculture 27: 177–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, William & Carr, M. K. V. (1991 b). Responses of tea (Camellia sinensis) to irrigation and fertilizer. II. Water use. Experimental Agriculture 27: 193–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, William & Carr, M. K. V. (1993). Responses of tea (Camellia sinensis) to irrigation and fertilizer. III. Shoot extension and development. Experimental Agriculture 29: 323–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar