Earthworm effects on tea

A tea conference has just finished in Bangladesh- many tea planters and environmentalist joined in this conference to talk about the effect of chemical fertilizers effect on tea. My friend(a tea planter) was one of the participant and gave me this information. The positive effect of this conference was, many Bangladeshi private tea estates will allow to increase earthworm's natural habitat and totally stop using pesticide though it will decrease their production.

We tea lovers are so happy to buy teas and increasing the demand of tea dramatically every year but are we aware of this issue that- for our dramatical demand, many tea growers are increasing their tea production by using chemical fertilizers and pesticides back to the tea gardens? Which has an big negative effect on- encouraging tea growers to use fertilizing process for our refreshing natural green tea plant.

Thousand and thousand years natural earthworms are giving us refresh taste and healthy component of tea. But recently- Chinese tea gardens are increasing using chemical fertilizers and pesticide more and more to coup up with increasing demand for the western tea market. Indian tea estates situation is worst. A join research of a French-China and India has proven- In India comoarable basis, 79.5% more than in others areas that used chemical fertilizer. After 80 years of using chemical pesticide, Indian tea gardens soil worsening environment. The research has also shown China has a wide area of tea plantation and also has a better numeric proportion of old tea tree and earthworms that has still a great chance to avoid the similar tragedy in India.

I hope our RFDT friend- DogMa is a chemist and will provide more information on this issue.

Ripon Vienna,VA

Reply to
Ripon
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Good for the Bangladeshis! By the way, those of us who've been dealing with Silk Road Teas for some time will remember that David Hoffman, its proprietor, has been trying to get Chinese tea farmers to use earthworms for a long time. (Standard disclaimer: my only relationship with SRT is as a customer.)

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

A short-term decrease, of course. In the long run, they will preserve the fertility of their soils, and be ahead of the game in fifty years or so when synthetic fertilizers are unaffordable and natural soil capacity elsewhere is radically diminished. If ever a crop justified the long view, it's tea!

I'm no tree-hugger - in fact, I'm pretty handy with a chain-saw and maul. I also tend to react badly to what seems like new-agey anti-science attitudes toward technology, especially from people with cars, televisions and central heat, and who don't raise their own food. It's also amusing to a scientist that plant defense chemicals secreted in response to external attacks (like caffeine?) are often far more toxic to humans than the insecticides they replace. However, I entirely agree with Ripon's thesis.

I don't know much about soil chemistry, but will admit to being a largely organic gardener and landscaper. The ill-effects of some insecticides and herbicides are well enough known. Salts even more so - most of the first civilizations (including those on the Nile, Mesopotamia and some in the New World) seem to have succumbed to salting of the soil. Not that you probably cared, but over-use of chemicals (or even irrigation, unless salts are flushed out with a lot of extra water) causes at least two problems: buildup of salts creates direct osmotic stress on plant roots, so they can't pull what they need from the ground. Worse in some ways is a fundamental change in soil structure, in the charge double-layer at the surface of clay grains, that can compromise its ability to support nutrient transport. (Same reason you need good water to make good pottery.) Spirituality aside, soil is very much a living ecosystem, from "dead" spaceholders like sand grains to montmorillonite platelets to bacteria, fungi and nematodes to larger creatures.

The earthworm thing is amazing. I've done a number of big projects that involved sterile dirt, and watching what happens as the worms colonize is inspiring. The whole texture and chemistry of the dirt are transformed. There are lots of "without this, life as we know it would be impossible" propositions, ranging from the fine-structure constant to tea. But earthworms are arguably responsible for a significant portion of the planet's fertility.

A lot of plants, notably kitchen herbs, deliver more of what we want when severely stressed. I'd be interested to know, from Ripon or some other well-traveled teaist, if there's any evidence that tea plants produce a better product under "ideal" or challenging growing conditions.

-DM

Reply to
Dog Ma 1

Never heard of Bangladeshi tea. Is it marketed under a different appelation?

--Blair "And is anyone steeping earthworms?"

Reply to
Blair P. Houghton

Blair P. HoughtonofpBc.17860514$ snipped-for-privacy@news.easynews.com6/20/04

19: snipped-for-privacy@p.h

Blair,

Bangladeshi tea is quite pleasant in a soft and friendly and warm sort of a way, much like a good Assam is supposed to taste and nine times out of ten doesn't. This is just my ever so humble opinion, of course. Ispahani is the brand name commonly found here in our Bangladeshi grocery stores. The packages are yellow. Mezapore, Bangladesh appear on the label. This is CTC tea. I have tasted better whole leaf Bangla teas, but they are apparently not available in my neck of the woods. Ripon might know where to get them.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Plant

Blair:

Yes, Michael is right about Ispahani and Mirzapore CTC tea. I have some with me, once in a while I make Chai Masala with it when I feel for strong, robust and malty cup. The other organic tea- "Bangladesh Black Pearl tea" Michael is talking about is a whole leaves Orthodox tea. he tried two types. The black pearl has an very interesting, complex taste. I have send this tea to many tea mailers and RFDT readers. I have none with me right now, otherwise I would love to send you some.

This Organic Orthodox tea was tasted by Bill Willington, the owner of "Tea Source" he also sell another Bangladeshi orthodox tea. Check at

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This one is good but nothing compare to the Black pearl. He is trying to outsource this tea from Bangladesh. According to his description and tasting report- this tea has an complex taste in between Assam and Yunnan. Some other people said- in between Assam and Keemun. We all couldn't come to an conclusion. I came here with

1000 gm and all are gone. I didn't get the chance to taste it more. Don't worry, I am going to Bangladesh September or October and wish to bring a whole chest with my bronze statues shipment. This tea is a limited production and organic method also let them grow a little amount. The whole lot right now is being exported to Sweden and Norway. I don't know, which company buy from them. Last time, I heard they were trying to producing Organic Golden Tips. I hope to see some surprise this time. For your information- China also grow Shin Cha types green tea. Bangladesh also grow good green tea for 100% export to Japan. I will also try to collect some this time. I will send you some just keep in touch. I miss this tea a lot but alas I have none. I was more happy to share with my tea friends around here. It is more fun to share your favorite thing with your friends.

For now the TeaSource is your only place to try some Bangladeshi orthodox tea.

Ripon Vienna,VA

Reply to
Ripon

Was inspired to do a little more research on this. The above generalizations are perhaps a bit broad, and the cited articles leave out critical contextual and scope information.

Anyone who's really interested in this might want to look deeper, including other newsgroup responses to these same postings. One interesting (and often accurate) forum is gardenweb.com, which I've found to be an excellent source of both useful and interesting information on almost any plant-related subject.

-DM

Reply to
Dog Ma 1

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