HPLC and high-throughput sequencing revealed differences of tea-leaves quality components and soil microbial community structure between modern and ancient tea plantations in Lincang Region

BackgroundAncient tea plantations with an age over 100 years still reserved at Mengku Town in Lincang Region of Yunan Province, China. However, the characteristic of soil chemicophysical properties and microbial ecosystem in the ancient tea plantations and their impact on tea-leaves chemical components remained unclear. Tea-leaves chemical components including amino acids, phenolic compounds and purine alkaloids, and soil chemicophysical properties including pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC), total total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (AN), available phosphorous (AP) and available potassium (AK), and microbial community structure of modern and ancient tea plantations in five geographic sites (i.e. Bingdao, Baqishan, Banuo, Dongguo and Jiulong) were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high-throughput sequencing, respectively. ResultsTea-leaves chemical components, soil chemicophysical properties and microbial community structures including bacterial and fungal community abundance and diversity evaluated by Chao 1 and Shannon varied with geographic location and tea plantation type. The ancient tea plantations possessed significantly (P<0.05) higher free amino acids, gallic acid, caffeine and EGC in tea-leaves, as well as soil fertility. The bacterial community structure kept stable, while fungal community abundance and diversity significantly (P<0.05) increased in ancient tea plantation because of higher soil fertility and lower pH. The long-term plantation in natural cultivation way significantly (P<0.05) improved the abundances of Nitrospirota, Methylomirabilota, Ascomycota and Mortierellomycota phyla. ConclusionsDue to the natural cultivation way, the ancient tea plantations still maintained relatively higher soil fertility and complete soil microbial ecosystem, which contributed to the sustainable development with higher quality in tea-leaves.

Community Empowerment to Improve the Village Economy through the Utilization of Tea Leaves in Bahbutong Village, Simalungun Regency

The community empowerment program is an activity that aims to increase the understanding and knowledge of the community in utilizing the existing potential. The level of understanding and knowledge of the community in Bahbutong Village is still limited in carrying out activities to utilize the potential of the village, this is related to the not optimal community empowerment efforts carried out. One of the potentials that can be pursued and reprocessed so as to get direct benefits that can be felt by the village community is tea leaves. So far, people only know that tea leaves are only for food and drink, so they have not been able to make a big contribution to the village economy. Utilization of tea leaves in Bahbutong Village can be an effort to improve the village economy through community empowerment activities carried out by the village government. The tea leaves in question are unused leaves or leftovers from tea plantations in Bahbutong Village. The method used in this research is the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) method. The results obtained in this study are new innovations in the use of tea leaves, namely the manufacture of tea aromatherapy candles that can provide relaxation for breathing and can also optimize community empowerment programs so that the village economy can increase

The Relationship between Differences of Slope Class with Soil Chemical Characteristics in Jolotigo Tea Plantation Scope of PTPN IX

Tea plantations are mostly more suitable to be cultivated in areas with highland characteristics to get its’ subtropical climate which is great for the growth of tea. This requirement showed that tea plantations are also cultivated in areas with different ranges of slope and this condition could affect soil chemical properties such as soil nutrient content, including soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC) and contents of N, Available P, K and Mg inside the soil. This study was conducted to analyze the correlation on different slope levels with soil nutrient contents by collecting the secondary data of land slope and soil chemical properties, analyzed statistically with a simple correlation method. The result showed there was no significant correlation between the slope levels and contents of soil chemical properties. Most of the soil chemical properties have a negative correlation to different slope gradients such as soil pH (r = -0.391), SOC (r = -0.348), total N ( r = -0.169), Available P (r = - 0.039), K content (r = -0.135), Mg content (r = -0.027). where the highest levels of nutrients were found at the lowest level of slope based on the site data. Soil chemical properties are needed to be considered in many tea plantations with different levels of slope and could be used as a recommendation in planning for conservation or restoration of degraded land or soil.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among pesticide sprayers of tea plantations in South India

Introduction: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are conditions in which the work environment and performance of work contribute significantly to the musculoskeletal condition. The objective of this study was to assess the work-related musculoskeletal disorders among the pesticide sprayers in tea plantations. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 290 chemical sprayers in selected tea plantations in South India from September to October 2018. Simple random sampling was done to select the sprayers for the study, written informed consent was taken and face–to–face interview was done with the sprayers. Socio-demographic factors and work profiles were noted. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used for the evaluation of musculoskeletal complaints. Results: Among the 290 sprayers in the study, all of them were males and the mean age of the participants was 45.6±8.5 years. More than half of the study participants 152 (52.4%) suffered from at least one musculoskeletal complaint and most of them 104 (35.8%) had pain in more than one body part. Among them, more than one-third 101 (34.8%) suffered from knee joint pain in the past twelve months. Shoulder problems (27.6%), lower back (22.8%) and upper back pains (19.3%) were the other major work-related musculoskeletal disorders that the study participants faced in the past year. Knee pain (31.7%), low backache (20.7%) and shoulder pain (24.1%) were the musculoskeletal problems that were related to their absence from work. Conclusion: More than half of the sprayers had at least one musculoskeletal complaint. Most common issues included knee joint pain, shoulder pain and back pains.