3 days Ago By Chimwemwe Mangazi
The Tea Research Foundation (TRF) has reiterated the need to use the right planting materials, especially tea varieties that are high-yielding and resistant to stressful conditions, to maintain or even increase crop production amid changing climatic conditions. This came out during a field day organised by the foundation for smallholder tea farmers in Mulanje recently. TRF Chief Research Scientist Nicholous Mphangwe said those who can afford it should irrigate to mitigate water stress, while proper nutrition management is also important, necessitating the application of open fertilisers for high production.
He added that farmers need to implement pest and disease control mechanisms to ensure the crop is under optimal conditions to achieve the highest possible yield. “Climate change is accompanied by several stressful conditions, such as drought, moisture stress, excessively high temperatures and, on the other end, very cold conditions. “These temperature changes lead to an increase in pests and diseases, which affects tea production.
“Year-on-year, we observe reductions in total production, particularly in years with severe droughts, where production can drop to around 40 million kilogrammes (kg) or even less if the drought is severe,” Mphangwe said. Board Chairperson for Mtendere Tea and Horticulture Cooperative, Wilfred Kasitomu, acknowledged challenges exacerbated by climate change and pointed out the continued low production due to dry spells that cause crops to die in the field. “In favourable climate conditions, we used to harvest up to 300,000kg per annum.
This time, production has declined to about 260,000kg. “Due to the devastating impact of climate change, we need to try these new varieties. We have already started uprooting the old varieties and replacing them with new ones,” Kasitomu said.
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