Radical management For improvement of Soil Compaction under Mature Tea

Abstract

Soil compaction is one of the major problems affecting productivity in some areas of N.E. India. It has restricted the productivity to very low levels in some tea estates. The problem of soil compaction which results from practice of prolonged monoculture can be corrected by thorough land preparation and rehabilitation in uprooted sections. However, the problem in mature tea section needs an entirely different approach. This study investigated the effects of differ< i> ent soil management practices on moderating soil compaction as compared to control and conventional system after three years of field experimentation. The experiments were laid out in a commercial tea estate, where soil compaction was a severe problem. The impact of the management practices was observed and
analyzed on soil physical and chemical properties, nutrient uptake by tea shoots and tea productivity. Soil compaction was found to be favourably modified by the imposition of vertical mulching and addition of organic manure or semi decomposed vermicompost in trenches to a depth of 15-20 cm. These treatments also maintained higher nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake and yield of tea over control.

Key words: Soil compaction, tea estates, productivity, vertical mulching, organic manure