Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze)

Tea, an important cash crop of many developing countries, has considerable socio-economic importance for rural development and poverty alleviation. More than three billion people in 160 countries and regions drink tea. Major tea producing countries of the world are China, India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka and they cultivate tea under different geo-physical environments existing in their countries. Long-term intensive tea cultivation deteriorates soil quality status and degrade land sustainability. Prolonged exploitation of tea growing soils through perennial monoculturing often causes significant changes, with acidification being the most important problem. Since tea is cultivated exclusively for leaves as the economic part, it requires heavy fertilizer application, especially of N, which often leads to high acidification and other related problems. Therefore, development and application of management strategies that enable to overcome various problems is essential to reduce the risks and ensure sustainable development of tea. This chapter provides an extensive overview on soil acidification, its causes, and amelioration methods; role of major, secondary and micronutrients in tea growth, yield and quality; fertilizer application; chances of heavy metal contamination in the soil and their effect on tea quality; agroecological and organic management of tea plantations; best agro-management practices for sustained soil health and tea production; role of microbes in soil fertility; impact of climate change and tea growth; and the way forward for efficient soil health management of tea plantations aimed at sustained production of quality produce.