Comparison of Assimilate Partitioning in Organically and Conventionally Grown Tea

Abstract

The partitioning of assimilates were compared in organically and conventionally grown tea. Dry matter and nutrient partitioning was examined in 12-year old tea bushes cultivar DT1 of the ‘TRI OR-CON’ trial at St Coombs Estate, Talawakele. Three organic treatments were compared with conventional, inorganic management. Introduced organic treatments were tea waste, compost and Neem oil cake as soil amendments and managed according to International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements guidelines. The treatments were arranged according to Randomized Complete Block design with four replicates and bushes were carefully uprooted and dry matter and nutrient partitioning were studied in different parts. The highest amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium partitioning were found in the flush in all treatments compared to other parts of tea bushes. Organic treatments such as tea waste and Neem oil cake resulted the highest nitrogen content in flush as 4.06% and 4.05% respectively. Compost and conventional treatments showed lower nitrogen content of 3.59% and 3.56% respectively. However, the fallen leaves and branches also contained a certain amount of nutrients and that indicate the importance of fallen leaves as well as use of pruned residues for nutrient recycling. Dry matter partitioning was not significantly different in the above four treatments, whilst higher dry matter partitioning into stem part followed by root system and the lowest dry matter partitioning was observed in the leaf part of the bush. It is evident that partitioning of assimilates was similar in organically and conventionally managed tea bushes. Key