Abstract:

Shading cultivation was designed and implemented in this research to study the effects of shading cultivation on the yield and its impact on quality of green tea in Sichuan tea area according to the unique geographical and climatic conditions of Sichuan. The study shows that shading cultivation in Sichuan tea area can effectively shorten the growth period of new shoots of tea trees. ‘Fudingdabai’ was shortened by 7 days on average and ‘Sanhua 1951’ was shortened by 3 days on average, which was conducive to increasing the picking rounds of fresh leaves in early spring and then increasing the yield. Shading treatment reduces the growth length of new shoots, which is conducive to the shaping of some tea products. ‘Fudingdabai’ was shaded in one bud and two leaves stage, and the length of new shoots was shortened by 26.62%. In one bud and three leaves stage, the length of new shoots was shortened by 23.36%. ‘Sanhua 1951’ was shaded in one bud and three leaves stage, and the length of new shoots was shortened by 31.32%. Shading is beneficial to the accumulation of free amino acids in tea plants. The content of free amino acids in ‘Fudingdabai’ under shading cultivation was significantly higher than that without shading, and the content of free amino acids in ‘Sanhua 1951’ under shading cultivation was significantly higher than that without shading. Shading is conducive to the accumulation of simple catechins in tea plants. After shading cultivation, the catechin astringent index of ‘Fudingdabai’ and ‘Sanhua 1951’ decreased by 17.99% and 12.27%, which had an important contribution to the ‘fresh’ sensory quality of green tea at the end of spring. It is generally believed that shading cultivation in Sichuan tea area can increase the harvest rounds of spring tea and quality of end spring tea, which is beneficial to improving the comprehensive output value of tea garden.

Key words: Sichuan tea area, shading cultivation, yield, tea quality, comprehensive output value