Effect of Different Types of Pruning Operations on Yield and Quality of Tea

Abstract

Aims: Pruning is the cutting of branches of a tea bush at predetermined height and at a specified interval in order to reinvigorate and bring tea bushes within reach of the pluckers, which directly related to the productivity and quality of tea. In Bangladesh, Three and four year pruning cycles were the conventional recommendations for the tea plantation. In this experiment, along with BTRI recommended four types of pruning operations (LP, DSK, MSK and LSK), two more types of  pruning operations such as: UP (Unprune) and LoS (Level of Skiff) were considered as treatments. This experiment was conducted with two main objectives: to evaluate the yield and yield related parameters of tea due to different types of pruning operations as well as to find out the effect of pruning operations on organoleptic quality of black tea. Study Design, Place and Duration of Study: This experiment was conducted ‘D2 Thall’ area at the main research farm of Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI) from December 2017 to November 2019. The experimental design was Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments and three replications. Methodology: The treatments are denoted as T1 (UP: Unpruned) control, T2 (LP: Light Pruning), T3 (DSK: Deep Skiffing), T4 (MSK: Medium Skiffing), T5 (LSK: Light Skiffing) and T6 (LoS: Level of Skiffing) respectively. Data were collected under the following parameters: • Number of plucking point or pluckable shoot/bush in each plucking • Fresh weight (g) of 100 shoots (three leaves and a bud) • Oven Dry weight (g) of 100 shoots (three leaves and a bud) to calculate Dry Matter Content • Green leaf weight (kg) to calculate Yield of each treatment • Number of plucking round to calculate Yield gap of each treatment • Black Tea Quality of each treatment by Organoleptic Tasting Method. Results: It was found that, number of plucking points/pluckable shoot and yield were found significantly high in T6 (Level of Skiffing), T5 (Light Skiffing) and T1 (Unpruned) than the other treatments. But in terms of tea quality, lowest quality tea was found in T1 (Unpruned), T6 (Level of Skiffing) and T5 (Light Skiffing) treatment. So, it can be concluded that, ‘Skiff Pruning’ or ‘Unprune’ technique had positive effect on yield but the quality of these technique were poor in comparison with other treatments. T2 (Light Pruning) treatment gave more tender and fresh shoot than the other treatment. For this reason, dry matter was low in T2 (Light Pruning) treatment but tea quality was much better than the other pruning technique. Conclusion: Pruning has  positive or  negative effect on  yield and quality of  tea.  ‘Skiff Pruning’ or ‘Unprune’ has positive effect on yield but the quality of is poor than the other treatments. Best Quality tea can be produced from Light Pruning tea section because of having more tender and fresh shoot than other treatments.