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In order to achieve sustainable development of the tea industry in China, it is necessary to reduce the use of chemical fertiliser rationally. With conventional fertilisation (CF) treatment as the control, five different chemical fertiliser-reduced regimes, including tea-specific formula fertiliser (T1), T1 + acidification amendment (T2), organic substitution based on T1 (T3), urea formaldehyde slow-release fertiliser (T4) and carbon-based organic fertiliser (T5), were conducted and evaluated on a green tea plantation from 2018 to 2021. The results showed that the spring tea yield of T1–T5 increased by 4.65–28.67%, while the free amino acids, tea polyphenols and sensory evaluation scores did not remarkably decrease. In addition, the T1–T5 treatments had a slight effect on soil acidification mitigation (except T2) and maintained the essential nutrients for tea production. Nutrient use efficiency improved, with agronomic efficiency (AE) increasing by 0.01–0.08 kg kg−1, shoot nutrient use efficiency (NUE) by 0.14–0.70% and partial factor productivity (PFP) by 0.05–0.18 kg kg−1. The net economic benefits also improved, with T1 showing a 135.28% increase, followed by T3 (67.53%), T2 (48.65%), T4 (38.07%) and T5 (33.35%). Overall, our results indicated that the T1 treatment could maintain the tea yield and quality while reducing the chemical fertiliser input and maximising the net economic benefit and AE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of standardized tea gardens is the main trend in the development of modern agriculture worldwide. As one of the most important economic crops, tea has increasingly stringent requirements placed on its planting capacity and quality. The application of machine vision technology has led to the gradual development of tea production moving towards intelligence and informatization. In recent years, research on tea production based on machine vision technology has received widespread attention, as it can greatly improve production efficiency and reduce labor costs. This article reviews the current application status of machine vision technology in tea pest monitoring, intelligent harvesting, quality evaluation, and classification, and analyzes and discusses specific challenges around machine vision technology in tea production; for example, this technology lacks a standard database and weather interference, training errors in the model, and differences in the hardware computing speed can become a challenge. Based on the current research and application of machine vision technology in various fields, this article looks ahead to the development prospects and future trends of machine vision technology in tea production applications, such as future research to further integrate multiple types of sensors, improvements in the quality and usability of datasets, optimized model algorithms for existing problems, dissemination of research results, and intelligent management of tea production through machine vision technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has developed a production method for high-quality Genova tea with excellent antioxidant properties. The antioxidant properties of each part of the Genova basil plant (i.e., leaves, flowers, and stems) were determined; the leaves and flowers showed higher antioxidant values. We also investigated the effects of steaming time and drying temperature on the antioxidant composition and properties, color, and aroma using leaves with good yield potential and high antioxidant properties. The color showed excellent green color retention with freeze- and machine-drying at 40 °C without steam-heat treatment. Steaming for 2 min was effective in maintaining high values of total polyphenol content, antioxidant properties (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazine and hydrophilic oxygen radical adsorption capacity), rosmarinic acid, and chicoric acid, and a drying temperature of ≤40 °C was recommended. Freeze-drying without steaming was the best method to retain all three of Genova's main aroma components, Linalool, trans-alpha-bergamotene, and 2-methoxy-3-(2-propenyl)-phenol. The method developed in this study can improve the quality of dried Genova products and be applied in the food industry, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of ecological principles to manage plant pests has attracted renewed attention, but our knowledge related to the contributions of ecological pest management to social and natural sustainability is fragmented. In this study, we compared the performance and resilience of tea production and the economic benefits of tea ecological management (TEM) and tea conventional management (TCM). We show that TEM significantly improved tea biomass and quality, nutritional efficiency, and beneficial insects, but reduced seasonal variation. As a result, economic return increased by $8045/ha in the TEM mode compared to $6064/ha in the TCM mode. These results confirm that TEM is a promising production mode that can reconcile the conflict between the immediate and long-term service of agriculture. However, environmental improvements associated with organic pest control benefit society, and the government should provide adequate financial support to promote the production system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyzed the newly emerging research field of climate change in combination with tea production. We adapted a valid search query to cover the relevant literature as completely as possible and to exclude irrelevant literature. The search resulted in a publication set of 14 key papers dealing with the implications of climate change for tea production as well as 71 papers citing at least one of the 14 key papers. The VOSviewer software was used for revealing the thematic content of the publication set based on the analysis of the keywords. The analysis illustrates the importance of climate change for tea production and mirrors the emerging discussion on climate change impacts and adaptation strategies. Questions regarding the historical context of research fields or specific research topics can be answered by using a bibliometric method called "Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy" (RPYS). The standard RPYS, as well as RPYS-CO, which is based on co-citations of a marker paper, were applied and the most important publication in the historical context of climate change in combination with tea production was identified: both RPYS analyses revealed a paper by M.A.Wijeratne working at the Tea Research Institute (TRI) in Sri Lanka as the starting point of the newly emerging research topic. Currently, the research topic is stimulated by research projects and publications of Selena Ahmed at the Montana State University (USA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar application in the agriculture sector is a practical approach to minimize waste and maintain sustainable farming. However, the information regarding biochar application in tea cultivation is limited and especially rare in field research. In this study, a two-year biochar experiment was conducted in a tea yard subject to tea yield and soil characteristics. According to tea growth, the tea yard for the experiment was divided into weak and normal sectors. Biochar was made from tea processing waste, mainly the twigs. The results showed that biochar application increased tea production by 2.3- and 1.3-fold in the weak and normal sectors, respectively, suggesting that converting tea waste to biochar for soil amendment is beneficial to increasing tea production, particularly in the weak sector. The regression analysis on tea production and soil characteristics revealed that only soil electric conductivity (R2 = 0.6597), soil organic matter (R2 = 0.7024), and soil extractable phosphate (R2 = 0.6547) were positively correlated with tea yield. Therefore, the field experiment of this study improves the understanding of biochar's agronomic and environmental benefits on plant productivity and soil health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the characteristics of spatial–temporal dynamics and influencing factors is important for optimizing the spatial distribution of tea production. Taking prefecture-level cities as the basic spatial unit, this study uses the Herfindahl index and exploratory spatial data analysis to reveal the spatial–temporal dynamics of China's tea production from 2000 to 2015. A theoretical analysis framework is established and a spatial econometric model is used to explore its influencing factors. The results show a U-shaped trend in the degree of tea spatial agglomeration, which gradually declined during 2000–2010, and rapidly increased during 2011–2015. The proportion of tea production shifted from the eastern region to the central and western regions, and spatial distribution coverage expanded to the north. Tea production had significant spatial correlation, and spatial agglomeration characteristics were exhibited for similar values (high or low). Tea production had a significant spatial spillover effect. Natural resources, labor cost, specialized production, and policies all affected the spatial–temporal dynamics of tea production somewhat, but the effects of traffic conditions and technological level were insignificant. Finally, this study proposed optimizing four aspects of the tea spatial layout: regional cooperation, comprehensive suitability evaluation of tea cultivation, spatial agglomeration, and distinctive local brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]