The tea plant whose botanical name is “Camellia Sinensis”, if allowed to grow its own way, would rise to height of some 25 feet and flower or fruit like any other perennial semi-deciduous tree. In order, however, to produce tea on a commercial scale, saplings are planted close to each other and repeatedly pruned or clipped to induce luxuriant leaf growth sideways as well as to avoid blossoming. The saplings take three to seven years to mature into bushes and if well cultivated yield leaf profically for as long as a century.

The height of tea bushes is rarely allowed to exceed 100 cm ad their number per hectare ranges between 4,000 to 15,000. A hectare can yield anywhere between 800 to 4,000 kgs annually. The Indian average yield per hectare in 1983 was 1468 kgs. To make one kg of tea requires 4.5 kgs of tender green leaves plucked every seven to ten days.

There are two ways of planting tea: one, with the help of seeds; and the other, by growing tiny leaf cuttings from a selected mother bush. The latter method is called vegetative propagation or clonal planting. It ensures uniform bushes of a well tested variety by eliminating the variations caused by cross pollination in seeds. On the other hand, the seedlings have tap roots and are therefore comparatively hardier.

Tea grows at altitudes rising from sea level to nearly 8,000 feet and on latitudes that range from Turkey and Georgia in the north to Argentina in the south. But “Camellia Sinensis” prefers a warm humid climate plenty of well distributed rainfall and long sunlit days. It therefore flourishes nearer the Equator. As far as soil is concerned, the tea bush is flexible and grows under conditions that differ from sandy loam to heavy clay (with plenty of humus) so long as it is well drained.

Northeast India produces a wider variety of tea than any other growing area in the world. From the Himalayan heights of Darjeeling (upto 6,500 feet) descend the world’s most flavoury and therefore the most expensive teas. On the other hand, from the plains of the Brahmaputra Valley comes, tea which is the most attractive to look at, the richest to drink and the longest to endure in freshness.

Share / Email