Our tea seminar was an unqualified success. We welcomed 46 tea professionals from Sri Lanka, Malawi, Tanzania Kenya Uganda and Ethiopia. Included were CEO’s, tea estate MD’s & OM’s, as well as researchers and government officials (see visual A)

Reports were presented by leaders of irrigation and fertigation
studies conducted over the last three to five years. Questions and discussions afterward clarified many issues related to the various topics and their results:

• A report by the Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute shows that by applying small amounts of fertilizers daily (300 times/year) and reducing nitrogen to 180 Kg /ha/year, Made Tea production dramatically increases. This impressive result was achieved in a tea plantation with high rainfall and infertile eroded soils.
• While these findings cannot be achieved in fertile soils serious consideration and study in other tea locations should be given to the fact that the highest yield increase was reached with only 180 kg of nitrogen.
• In Kibena Tea Estate,Tanzania we exposed a uniquely active root zone- under the dripper, a depth of 0-50cm – (see visual B) The very dense rootlets concentrated under the dripper were a clear demonstration of “spoon feed" fertigation- and graphically explained the high efficiency of drip fertigation.
• We discussed issues including: How will this kind of root development affect the tea bush’s structural roots? Will drip fertigated tea bushes survive an unexpected system breakdown? Several speakers emphasized that genetically coded structural roots will continue to grow away and down, and will survive the drier month.
• Soil in the tea environment (800 mm) never dries off totally. As long as the above-ground canopy is alive, water will be transported from the wetter to the drier parts of the root system.
• Previous studies in over-head sprinkler irrigation showed that an accumulated deficit of 200 mm/year does not affect production. It contradicts our experience in intensive fertigation strategy in other crops. A new drip irrigation study conducted since 4/2003 in the Tea Research Institute of Tanzania will answer this dilemma
• Drip technology has been found to be a sustainable irrigation solution for the tea estate environment with lower labor maintenance than overhead irrigation. Water uniformity distribution was 90% after four seasons. One drip line every other row (2.4m apart) is the recommended pattern.