Organic Tea Plantation Green Pest Management Measures (Part I)
The core management approach for organic tea gardens focuses on ecological balance and sustainable development; its goal is to maintain the health and stability of the tea garden ecosystem by reducing the use of chemical inputs. The application of organic fertilizers can significantly improve soil physicochemical properties and enhance soil biodiversity, thereby creating favorable environmental conditions for the growth of tea plants. Furthermore, organic tea garden production practices demonstrate that adhering to organic agriculture principles not only effectively improves tea quality but also strengthens the ecological service functions of the tea gardens. Organic farming emphasizes compliance with natural laws and ecological principles; it is an agricultural production method that ensures the sustainability and stability of the production system through appropriate cultivation practices, intercropping, and biological control methods. These practices provide a scientific basis for the management of organic tea gardens and also highlight their advantages in terms of environmental protection and resource utilization efficiency.
The prevention and control of pests, diseases, and weeds in organic tea gardens should be grounded in the agricultural ecosystem approach—by coordinating the relationships among plants, pests and diseases, and their environment to create ecological conditions that inhibit the proliferation of pests and weeds while fostering the growth of natural enemies. Through the application of various measures and methods—such as agricultural cultivation practices, the selection and breeding of disease-and pest-resistant varieties, physical control, and biological control—effective prevention and management strategies can be implemented to keep disease incidence below economically acceptable levels, thereby reducing the threat posed by pests and diseases to tea gardens. In practical farming operations, non-chemical approaches should be prioritized, such as selecting disease-and pest-resistant cultivars, optimizing cultivation management practices, and improving the microenvironment of the tea gardens, to mitigate the risk of pest and disease outbreaks. Additionally, emphasis should be placed on protecting and utilizing natural enemy resources to enhance the inherent regulatory capacity of the tea gardens. This integrated pest management strategy not only significantly reduces the use of chemical pesticides but also effectively improves tea quality and the ecological stability of the tea gardens.
I. Agricultural Control
Agricultural control refers to the application of various agricultural management measures based on an analysis of the interrelationships among tea trees, pests and diseases, and the environment, with the aim of creating environmental conditions that favor the growth and development of tea trees while hindering the proliferation of pests, diseases, and weeds, thereby reducing the population of harmful organisms and enhancing the resistance and natural regulatory capacity of tea trees.
First and foremost, selecting tea varieties with strong disease and pest resistance represents the most economical and effective approach to managing diseases, pests, and weed damage. Tea cultivars characterized by high polyphenol content, low nitrogen content, and thickened leaf cuticle generally exhibit greater resistance to diseases and pests; for example, "Zhongcha 108" demonstrates strong resistance to tea anthracnose, while "Longjing Changye" shows high tolerance to leafhoppers. It is advisable to avoid large-scale monoculture of a single tea variety and instead cultivate a mix of different high-quality tea cultivars.
Furthermore, avoiding the large-scale cultivation of a single tea tree variety and instead adopting a planting approach that incorporates diverse high-quality tea tree varieties can effectively reduce the risk of pest and disease spread.
Secondly, maintaining the cleanliness of tea plantations to prevent air-borne diseases, soil-borne diseases, viral diseases, and other pests and diseases is also an important agricultural control measure. For example, during winter garden sanitation, diseased or infested branches, fallen leaves, and weeds should be thoroughly removed and either incinerated or buried deep—buried at a depth of more than 50 cm. Manually remove egg clusters and insect pupal cases of tea caterpillars and tea silkworms; simultaneously, apply a comprehensive spray treatment across the entire plantation using lime sulfur mixture, sodium camphorate, mineral oil, or similar agents, focusing on the lower and middle sections of the tea plants (to control pests and diseases such as tea orange gall mites and tea cake disease), thereby eliminating overwintering pest and disease sources.
Scientific pruning not only helps mitigate pest and disease damage and improves fertilizer utilization efficiency but also plays an important role in pest and disease management. After the spring tea harvest, performing pruning (removing 10–15 cm from the canopy) can reduce the population of eggs and nymphs of the small green leafhopper and the orange gall mite on tea plants; for tea trees severely affected by pests or diseases such as tea anthracnose, anthracnose, tea stink bug, or scale insects, a heavy pruning should be carried out by removing 15–20 cm from the canopy; performing pruning at the end of autumn (removing 3–5 cm from the canopy) in conjunction with edge pruning (maintaining a row spacing of at least 50 cm) can improve ventilation and light penetration within the tea plantation and help prevent the occurrence of tea anthracnose and tea white spot disease. For aging tea plantations (those with aged, degraded, diseased, infested, weak, or dead branches), heavy pruning (removing half of the tree height) can completely eliminate the overwintering habitats of boring pests such as the tea branch sawfly and the tea longhorn beetle. Base fertilizer should be applied in conjunction with pruning. Excessive nitrogen fertilizer can increase the tenderness of tea shoots, attracting leafhoppers and aphids; conversely, insufficient phosphorus and potassium fertilization can reduce the disease resistance of tea trees. Fertilization should be applied in appropriate amounts and at the right time based on soil fertility and the growth cycle of the tea trees to ensure their healthy growth.
II. Physical Control Measures
Physical control methods, due to their ease of implementation, minimal impact on the environment and natural enemy insects, and high efficacy, constitute an important component of green pest management in organic tea plantations.
The color board trapping technique is a simple and effective pest control method. Yellow traps are primarily used to lure and kill adult leafhoppers and other pests; for example, hang 20–30 traps per mu at a height of 10–15 cm above the tea canopy. Blue traps are suitable for controlling pests such as thrips; hang 15–20 traps per mu at a height level with the tea canopy.
Frequency-vibrating insecticidal lamps (with a wavelength range of 365–400 nm) or solar-powered LED insecticidal lamps are another commonly used physical control method that can effectively attract and kill adult pests (such as the tea leaf webworm and tea caterpillar).
Sexual attractant technology involves simulating the sex pheromones of target pests to attract male insects into traps, thereby reducing their population density. When applying this method, specialized attractants should be selected according to the specific pest species; for example, the sexual attractant for the tea leaf webworm contains the active ingredient (Z,E)-9,12-decadien-1-ol acetate. The base of the trap should be positioned at a height of 30–50 cm above the tea plant canopy.
Insect-proof mesh and plastic mulching are used for pest management. Insect-proof mesh can be employed for mechanical isolation to prevent pests from entering tea plantations; it is particularly effective for controlling migratory pests—such as pests targeting young shoots (e.g., tea aphids or tea leaf webworms)—by covering the plants with insect-proof mesh featuring a mesh size of 30 holes or larger during the spring tea budbreak period (for a duration of 20–30 days, avoiding any interference with sunlight exposure). Plastic mulching alters soil temperature and humidity conditions, suppresses weed growth, and reduces the likelihood of pathogen infection; for example, black plastic mulch can be applied over tea rows to prevent adult pests from laying eggs. During the application of insect-proof mesh, temperature and humidity within the mesh area should be monitored (if the temperature exceeds 35°C, remove the mesh promptly for ventilation); when using plastic mulching, a drip irrigation system should be installed to ensure adequate water supply.
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