Comparative dynamics of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) roots under organic and conventional management systems with special reference to water use

Comparative measurements were carried out in the on-going, long-term organic and conventional comparison “TRI OR-CON” trial at the Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka. The tea was grown organically using tea waste (TW), neem oil cake (NOC), compost (COM) as soil amendments using IFOAM guidelines, which were compared with tea grown conventionally (CONV) with recommended synthetic inputs. Responses of the tea yield, root system and mass volume sap flow were studied. The tea bushes showed comparable responses between all the treatments, the differences of which were not statistically significant: They exhibited similar yield, root distribution, growth, extension rates, mortality, mass volume flow of water and water use efficiency (WUE). The organically grown (ORG) tea bushes invested more roots in deeper soil layers than the CONV bushes. The results showed that in terms of plant growth, managing tea organically is as equally feasible as managing tea in the conventional manner