Enhancing tea soil health by utilizing the indigenous natural resources: A comprehensive review

Abstract

The soil sustains plants, serves as the physical determinant of root development and spread, and acts as the primary reservoir for plant-accessible water and nutrients. It governs nutrient availability through bio-physiochemical processes, which depend on soil and plant characteristics. The primary difficulty of soil management in tea gardens is to maintain soil health while ensuring nutrient availability within a pH range of 4.5 to 5.5. The amendment of soil with organic matter can enhance soil health through the application of biosolids, manure, compost, vermicompost, biochar, and biofertilizers. The use of various organic inputs in soil clearly has the capacity to enhance organic carbon levels and, consequently, augment nutrient availability in tea-cultivating soil. Biochar derived from tea pruning litter has demonstrated efficacy as a superior soil conditioner, enhancing the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of tea-cultivating soil. Nutrient cycles are mediated by microbes, with distinct groups isolated from local soil responsible for transforming each nutrient from its bound form to a plant-available form. Consequently, indigenous natural resources in tea gardens could be efficiently and prudently employed to enhance soil health, augment tea yield, and perhaps diminish chemical fertiliser usage in tea growing.

Keywords: Biochar, Biofertilizer, Soil health, Tea, Vermicompost