ISHS Acta Horticulturae 275: International Symposium on the Culture of Subtropical and Tropical Fruits and Crops
CONVERSION OF HAND PLUCKING TO MECHANICAL PLUCKING IN HIGH GRADE TEA AREAS IN TAIWAN |
| Authors: | T.F. Huang, T.F. Chiu |
| Abstract:
Labor shortage and high cost of hand plucking are the most limiting problems for tea farmers in Taiwan. To solve these problems, conversion from hand plucking to mechanical plucking is urgently needed. This can be realized if proper pruning and plucking can be carried out for Ching-Hsin-Oolong cultivar which is the most important local cultivar in Taiwan. On average, the quality of partially-fermented made tea from hand plucking was found to be slightly better than that of mechanical plucking, although, the difference was not highly significant. The fact that the cost of mechanical plucking was found to be as low as one-tenth that of hand plucking has attracted the attention and interests of tea growers. Currently, more than 80% of the tea growers in Taiwan have converted from hand plucking to mechanical plucking. | |
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