What are the technical measures for summer and autumn tea production?

The output and value of summer and autumn tea each account for about half of the annual total. Doing a good job in summer and autumn tea production is crucial for securing a bumper tea harvest for the whole year and increasing local fiscal revenue and tea farmers' income. Therefore, all localities must take effective measures to strive to improve the quality of summer and autumn tea, and must work at summer and autumn tea production with the same vigor as spring tea production. To this end, the following technical measures are specifically proposed.

1. Increase topdressing and foliar spraying. Topdressing for summer and autumn tea should be applied as early as possible. Generally, topdressing should be applied promptly after spring tea ends, with fertilizers preferably quick-acting fertilizers such as 15-20 kg of urea or 20-30 kg of ammonium sulfate per mu, or decomposed manure and human and livestock waste diluted with water can also be used for watering. For foliar topdressing, add 200-250 g of urea and 100-150 g of potassium dihydrogen phosphate per 100 kg of water for spraying. Rare earth micro-fertilizers, tea leaf fertilizers and other tea leaf foliar fertilizers can also be sprayed, with better results.

2. Intertillage and weeding, drought resistance and moisture conservation. Clearing weeds is an important task in summer and autumn tea garden management, because after repeated trampling during spring tea picking, the surface soil of the tea garden becomes compacted. Intertillage and weeding should be carried out in conjunction with topdressing for summer and autumn tea to make the tea garden soil loose. Summer and autumn often bring summer drought or autumn drought. Most tea gardens in our province are distributed in hilly and mountainous areas and are difficult to irrigate, so local materials can be used by spreading grass in the tea garden to conserve moisture and prevent drought. This can not only retain water but also inhibit weed growth, and after the weeds rot they can also increase soil organic matter.

3. Timely prevention and control of pests and diseases. In summer and autumn, the main tea tree pests and diseases have all entered their peak outbreak period and are very prone to rampant damage, leading to reduced yield and income. Pest and disease control is one of the most important tea tasks in this season. The main pests and diseases include tea geometrid, tea tussock moth, snake-eye scale, small green leafhopper, mites, and so on. Therefore, all localities must attach great importance to this, conduct investigations regularly and periodically, do a good job in pest and disease forecasting, promptly adopt comprehensive agricultural measures for prevention and control, and when necessary use chemical pesticides for control.

4. Rational picking according to the condition of the trees. Summer and autumn tea picking should be suited to the condition of the trees, combining picking with conservation. For renovated and renewed tea gardens and young tea gardens, it is advisable to pick by batches by tipping, mainly preserving and nurturing; while production tea gardens should pick tender leaves promptly and pick in batches while retaining leaves. Summer and autumn temperatures are high, and tea leaves tend to age, so buds, leaves and opposite leaves should be picked promptly, increasing the number of picking rounds, generally once every 3-5 days, with more than 20 rounds possible, mainly picking one bud and two leaves and opposite leaves of equivalent tenderness. Unreasonable picking methods such as "picking old and tender together in one pass" and random grasping must be eliminated. Fresh leaves must not be mixed with old stems, old leaves, tea fruit or non-tea impurities. At the same time, the freshness of fresh leaves must be maintained, and it must be ensured that the fresh leaf raw materials are not damaged, do not heat up, and do not deteriorate.

5. Fine processing to improve grade. On the basis of acceptance and grading of fresh leaf raw materials, the processing quality gate must be strictly controlled, and fine processing must be carried out in accordance with the processing technology specifications for black tea, green tea, compressed tea, scented tea and various famous and premium teas. At present, efforts must be made to overcome the tendency toward simplified processing and shoddy production of summer and autumn tea, minimize problems such as smoke, scorching, looseness and broken pieces in tea, and strive to change the backward situation of "black tea not red, green tea not green, scented tea not fragrant, famous tea not famous," and comprehensively improve the grade of summer and autumn tea. The development of famous and premium summer and autumn tea must be intensified, and frequent picking and greater production of famous, premium and high-grade tea must be carried out to increase economic income.