Sucking pests of tea

摘要

Dr Terry Mabbett writes about mites and thrips, the damage they cause, and how to deal with them. Tea is one of the toughest and most resilient of tropical crops. Few other crops, if any, have to endure enforced leaf 'pruning' over long periods of time. In spite of its resilience, regular picking of fresh leaf tea for processing into black tea does deplete reserves and could make the crop vulnerable to both physiological damage and pest attack. But with careful management, including a scientificallydesigned and efficiently applied programme of fertilizer application, tea bushes will thrive and regenerate young healthy foliage following leaf picking.