Effect of slope and year of pruning of tea plants on soil water content in Indonesian tea plantations

Abstract

Global climate change that causes drought requires integrated and sustainable crop management through management of soil water content in tea plantations. In dry season in tropical and sub-tropical climate conditions, there is a decrease in soil water content between 11–28%. To minimize the decline in production, it can be anticipated by knowing the changes in water content in the soil. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of slope and year pruning tea plant (YP) on soil water content and shoot production in tea plantations. The research was conducted in November 2020 – April 2021, at Research Institute for Tea and Chincona, West Java, Indonesia. The research design used a factorial randomized block design with 2 factors, factor 1 (year of pruning) and factor 2 (slope). The parameters observed were soil water content and shoot production. The results showed that the factor of slope and year of pruning did not show any signi fi cant interactions and differences in soil water content a soil water content found at YP-3 at 40.48% and the highest shoot production at YP-2 of 20.06 kg/plot. The effect year of pruning (YP) is highly correlated and has a strong relationship to soil water content. The results of this study can be used to predict the actual situation the tea leaf growing period, which can improve the management of tea production plantations and also provide a scienti fi c basis for accurate timing of effective fertilization of tea planting, as well as providing technical support for the future of farming technology.