At the time of a previous effort to investigate the potential in this locality of Actinidia chinensis - (then Chinese Gooseberry now Kiwifruit) in 1971, the then Horticultural Advisory Officer G. Matthews Esq. of the Ministry of Agriculture raised the possibility of tea culture in elevated areas of the Eastern Coromandel Peninsula as it appeared to him that there was some duplication of the growing conditions of the Ceylon high country. Having visited there at times over the years we could understand his view but shared a common belief that lack of labour negated the possibility. The seed however, was sown!

THE TEA RESEARCH PROJECT - A REPORT

THE COLLECTION

The PURANGI TEA COLLECTION is an archival collection of tea varieties being established at Purangi Estate in a garden 100 metres above sea level approximately 3 kilometres inland from the Pacific Coast above the Purangi River, a small estuarine system, that lies inside the Mangrove River system in Mercury Bay. (On the Eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula of the North Island of New Zealand.)

This locality is exposed to violent episodic weather events from the North and East that bring heavy rains and has prevailing winds from the Southwest that provide limited cooler rains. The average annual rainfall is 82 inches. The longest summer dry periods average 6 weeks making standby irrigation necessary.

Day-time temperatures for 9 months average 18C-30C with night-time year round average minimum of 4C-10C. The central Coromandel Peninsula is subject to the highest levels of incoming radiation measured on a horizontal surface in New Zealand and the garden microclimate would experience 1-2 days of morning surface frost of 1C 1 in 3 years.

The Purangi Tea Collection is the reestablishment of a New Zealand archival collection to replace the collection that had been maintained by the former Department of Scientific and Industrial Research at the then Riwaka Research Station at Motueka in Nelson Province at the North of the South Island and from which Mr Peter Smale (recently of Crop&Food) conducted a number of studies.

YABUKITA -THE CLONE CHOSEN FOR THE GREEN TEA CO-OPERATIVE VENTURE STEVENS'S TEA OPPOSITE RIWAKA RESEARCH STATION

The D.S.I.R. collection was destroyed both due to lack of government funding and at the behest of advisors from the Japanese stakeholders in the Motueka Green Tea Co-operative who wished to help establish and protect an industry based on a single clone (Yabukita var. sinensis).

HAMILTON'S TEA GARDEN MOTUEKA

At present 66 specimens of variations of Camellia sinensis; C. assamica and C. assamica ssp. lasiocalyx (cambod) have been established in the archival collection at Purangi Estate 400 miles to the North.
The reason for reestablishing the collection is to provide a New Zealand source of genetic material for future research and selection programs. Such research efforts are hampered due to difficulties in introducing plant materials, this is in turn due to stringent government controls under the Biosecurity Act 1993 in order to prevent the importation of pests and diseases. Efforts to add to the collection by the importation of clones selected elsewhere will be pursued . It is hoped that in time clones can be selected from which to establish and sustain a plantation industry based on mechanical culture.

TEA IN NEW ZEALAND~THE THESIS

It is evident that a tea plantation industry had not established in Australia and New Zealand at the time it did in India and Ceylon and the Dutch Indies due to the difficulty in obtaining the degree of requisit labour, rather than suitable soils and climate. This mindset has continued to this day as tea culture expanded in Africa and Taiwan. The comparatively recent impetus given to the black tea industry in Africa by ex Sri Lankan planters seeking locales with plentiful labour is an example.

The technological advances of the century have led to mechanisation of many labour intensive tasks and have been utilised in the establishment of the Australian industry. Unfortunately however old habits die hard and the 'good jat' of the planter of Ceylon has been drilled through the plastic mulch of the Australian tea garden with the result that uneven growth from such seedling grown tea neatly harvested by self propelled machine has caused problems in manufactures. The leaf quality is uneven and the resulting manufactures would not generally realise good prices on the international market.

The causal factor is not mechanisation per se. It is the inability to pursue the agronomic practices that allow for mechanisation by 'large' self propelled machines. The human factor in hand plucking will only be replaced by mechanical plucking when the machine can be passed over plants that have the required genetic characteristics and have been subjected to good agronomic practice. That this may necessitate adherence to 'organic' principles should be noted.

Such plants will need to be clonally propagated and display even flushing; have structural aspects suited to the machinery used and contain the characteristics required for yield and end manufacture. The relationship of clones to site has to be a major consideration in New Zealand where soil and climatic factors are extremely diverse.

Unless there is major change to government policy, tea produced in New Zealand will have to compete in the international marketplace against a product with extensive State support worldwide. It is a combination of suitable soils and climate with new technology that will create a new plantation industry.

Report on MANUKA or NEW ZEALAND TEA TREE