Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T17:01:39.094Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of Light, Temperature, Irrigation and Fertilizer on Photosynthetic Rate in Tea (Camellia Sinensis)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

B. Gail Smith ,
William Stephens ,
Paul J. Burgess  and
M. K. V. Carr
B. Gail Smith
Affiliation:
Unilever Plantations and Plant Science Group, Maris Lane, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2LQ, England
William Stephens
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Water Management, Silsoe College (Cranfield University), Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4DT, England
Paul J. Burgess
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Water Management, Silsoe College (Cranfield University), Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4DT, England Ngwazi Tea Research Unit, c/o PO Box 4955, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
M. K. V. Carr
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Water Management, Silsoe College (Cranfield University), Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4DT, England
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Photosynthetic rates were monitored during the warm dry season in tea Clone 6/8 in a line-source irrigation × fertilizer experiment in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Irrigation and fertilizer increased photosynthetic rate both by enhancing photosynthetic rate per unit leaf area (A) in healthy leaves and by increasing the proportion of sunlight intercepted by photosynthetically efficient leaves. Irrigation-induced increases in A could be accounted for by increases in stomatal conductance (g) and associated reductions in leaf temperature. Fertilizer at an annual application rate of 225 kg N ha-1 caused increases in A associated with increases in g and improved responses to ambient CO2 concentration and illuminance (photon flux density, PFD). However, a further increase in fertilizer application rate to 375 kg N ha-1 a-1 decreased A in spite of increasing g. Light-saturation of photosynthesis occurred only at the higher fertilizer application rate. In unfertilized tea or tea fertilized at the lower rate, A decreased at a PFD of between 1400 and 2000 μmol m-2 s-l. These results are discussed in terms of the relation between photosynthesis and yield in tea.

Fotosíntesis en el té

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , July 1993 , pp. 291 - 306
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aoki, S. (1987). Varietal differences and effects of nitrogen fertilisation on decline of photosynthetic rate in overwintering tea leaves. Japanese journal of Crop Science 56:252–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balasimha, D., Daniel, E. V. & Bhat, , Prakash, G. (1991). Influence of environmental factors on photosynthesis in cocoa trees. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 55:23–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brix, H. (1981). Effect of nitrogen fertilisation source and application rates on foliar nitrogen concentration, photosynthesis and growth of Douglas-fir. Canadian journal of Forest Research 11:775–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, M. K. V. (1977). Changes in the water status of tea clones during dry weather in Kenya. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89:297–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, M. K. V., Dale, M. O. & Stephens, W. (1987). Yield distribution in irrigated tea (Camellia sinensis) at two sites in Eastern Africa. Experimental Agriculture 23:75–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
el-Sharkawy, M. A. & Cock, J. H. (1990). Photosynthesis of cassava (Manihot esculenta). Experimental Agriculture 26:325–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadfield, W. (1975). The effect of high temperatures on some aspects of the physiology and cultivation of the tea bush (Camellia sinensis) in North East India. In Light as an Ecological Factor II, 477–495 (Eds Evans, G. C., Bainbridge, R. and Rackham, O.). London: British Ecological Society.Google Scholar
Hakamata, K. & Sakai, S. (1980). Translocation and redistribution of 14 CO2-photosynthates assimilated in winter leaves in the young tea plant. Studies of Tea 58:11–20.Google Scholar
Hanks, R. J., Keller, J., Ramussen, V. P. & Wilson, G. D. (1976) Line source sprinkler for continuously variable irrigation-crop production studies. Soil Science Society of America Journal 44:426–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monteith, J. L. (1986). How do crops manipulate water supply and demand? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A 316:245–259.Google Scholar
Novoa, R. & Loomis, R. S. (1981). Nitrogen and plant production. Plant and Soil 58:177–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkinson, K. J. (1983) Porometry. In S.E.B. Symposium on Instrumentation for Environmental Physiology, 171–191. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pethiyagoda, V. & Ragendram, N. S. (1965). The determination of leaf areas in tea. Tea Quarterly 36:48–58.Google Scholar
Roberts, G. R. & Keys, A. J. (1978). The mechanism of photosynthesis in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.). Journal of Experimental Botany 29:1403–1407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sakai, S. (1987). Studies on photosynthesis and dry matter production of tea plants. Bulletin of the National Research Institute of Tea. Kanaga Shizuoka, Japan: National Research Institute of Tea.Google Scholar
Sinclair, T. R. & Horie, T. (1989). Leaf nitrogen, photosynthesis and crop radiation use efficiency: A review. Crop Science 29:90–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B. G. (1989). The effects of soil water and atmospheric vapour pressure deficit on stomatal behaviour and photosynthesis in the oil palm. Journal of Experimental Botany 40:647–651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, G. R. (1977) Seasonal changes in the photosynthesis of tea (Camellia sinensis L.). Journal of Applied Ecology 14:303–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, G. R. (1979). Weather, physiology and seasonality of tea (Camellia sinensis) yields in Malawi. Experimental Agriculture 15:321–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squire, G. R. & Callender, B.A. (1981). Tea plantations. In Water Deficits and Plant Growth 6:471–510 (Ed. Kozlowski, T. T.). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Stephens, W. & Carr, M. K. V. (1991 a). Responses of tea (Camellia sinensis) to irrigation and fertilizer: I. Yield. Experimental Agriculture 27:177–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephens, W. and Carr, M. K. V. (1991 b). Responses of tea (Camellia sinensis) to irrigation and fertilizer: II. Water use. Experimental Agriculture 27:193–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
von Caemmerer, S. & Farquhar, G. D. (1981). Some relationships between the biochemistry of photosynthesis and the gas exchange of leaves. Planta 153:376–387.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
von Caemmerer, S. & Farquhar, G. D. (1984). Effects of partial defoliations, changes in irradience during growth, short term water stress and growth at enhanced p(CO2) on the photosynthetic capacity of leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Planta 160:320–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, R. A. (1972). Use of the boundary line in the analysis of biological data. Journal of Horticultural Science 47:309–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar