Abstract:

In order to screen out the tea varieties suitable for mechanical harvesting in Shandong tea area, the shoot bud leaf traits and mechanical harvesting effects of 6 tea varieties with excellent growth were compared, and the suitability of mechanical harvesting of different tea varieties was evaluated. The results showed that ‘Daiding Yufeng’ and ‘Zhongcha 108’ had longer new slightly length and internode length. The standard bud-leaf rate and complete bud-leaf rate of ‘Daiding Yufeng’ in spring and summer were significantly higher than those of other varieties. The standard bud-leaf rate and complete bud-leaf rate of ‘Zhongcha 108’ and ‘Daiding Yufeng’ in autumn were significantly higher than those of other varieties. Through analysis, it was found that the longer new shoot and internode length were significantly correlated with the integrity of the bud leaves, indicating that the new shoot length and internode length were crucial to the picking performance of the tea picker. There was no significant correlation between the leaf angle of different tea varieties and the standard bud leaf rate and the complete bud leaf rate. The results also showed that the effect of mechanical harvesting in summer was higher than that in spring and autumn, and the priority of mechanical harvesting in summer was very important to improve the efficiency of tea production. Shoot length and internode length are important factors affecting the mechanical harvesting of tea. ‘Daiding Yufeng’ can be selected as a mechanical harvesting variety in Shandong tea area.

Key words: Shandong tea area, tea varieties, machine picking, standard bud leaf, intact bud and leaves, internode length, leaf angle