Yield variability at the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya

Abstract

The results of an experiment to monitor the effects of weather variability on the yield of tea ( Camellia sinensis) under constant management over a 16 year period are reported. The overall yield potential was limited to about 2 t ha −1 by the low air and soil temperatures associated with the high altitude (2180 m) which restricted shoot extension rates. The within-year yield distribution was determined by sometimes large potential soil water deficits (up to 400 mm) during the dry season (which restricted yields of made tea by about 1.3 kg ha −1 mm −1) and by the incidence of damaging hail storms throughout the rest of the year (which caused mean losses of 10% of the total annual yield). The implications of this analysis for tea research at Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (TRFK) and elsewhere are discussed.