Project launched to identify drought-tolerant tea varieties

RİZE

Scientists in the Black Sea province of Rize have initiated a study to identify drought-tolerant tea varieties in response to the looming threat posed by global warming and its impact on tea cultivation.

The joint project by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University and Çaykur, a Turkish state-owned tea-producing company, seeks to safeguard the future of tea cultivation, which is widespread in the region, traditionally reliant on rainy climates.

The project involves importing four different tea plants from Japan, China and Azerbaijan to determine which varieties can better withstand drought conditions.

In Rize's National Tea Gene Pool, which preserves 2,034 tea plant varieties, 12 high-quality varieties have been identified. These varieties will be studied over the next three years to ascertain their drought tolerance, and the findings will be shared with tea producers.

“In 2008, we launched a comprehensive initiative to collect and preserve Türkiye’s tea gene resources. From this collection, we identified 12 top candidate varieties,” said Kezban Yazıcı, the director of the university’s tea and tea products research center.

“As we progressed to the recommendation stage, we submited a project to Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) to identify drought-tolerant varieties crucial for the future of tea agriculture in Türkiye and worldwide. We aim to determine the most drought-tolerant varieties among these 12 within the next three years,” Yazıcı explained. “Our goal is to offer these to our producers, enabling them to vitalize their tea gardens effecitvely.”

The varieties will undergo testing in controlled environments to stimulate drought conditions. Researchers will monitor various factors, including growth rates, leaf quality and yield to identify the most resilient varieties.

Atilla Polat, deputy director of Çaykur’s tea research institute, further stated the project’s goals.

“In the previous study we identified the 12 prominent, high-quality and high-yielding tea varieties suitable for our region. This current study will evaluate their drought tolerance. Our company is playing a pivotal role in renewing existing tea plantations, and we have initiated the creation of breeding tea gardens using these high-quality candidates. The drought-tolerant varieties identified in our ongoing study will be intregated into this process.”

He added that field and laboratory studies are progressing and that upon completion, they will recommend the most suitable varieties for production.