Tea Research Foundation (CA) Field Day

Last week we attending the annual TRF(CA) field day in Mimosa, Mulanje. Of particular interest was a visit to some plots of the next generation of cultivars that have been developed by the TRF. One in particular 95/4-43 was see to be more vigorous than the current variety favoured by growers in Malawi for replanting – PC168.

At the research committee meeting which met on the 29th May, one of the topics was ‘climate change’ and how we can adapt to the changes that we can expect over the next 50 years. As tea is such a long term crop, with an expected life span in this area of >100 years, developing cultivars that can deal with hotter, drier conditions is an important part of our response to climate change.

One of the options Satemwa is looking at to reduce the effect of medium term climate change is to plant shade trees. This will start in our lower altitude gardens. At the moment we are still reviewing which species might be most suitable for our needs