The Effects of Long-Term Reduction in Chemical Fertilizer Application Combined with Organic Fertilizer on Soil Fertility, Tea Yield, and Quality in Tea Garden

DAI Cuiting; LEI Yu; LIU Hongyan; XIANG Fen; LI Saijun; LI Wei

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Journal of Tea Science ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (3) : 449-460.

The Effects of Long-Term Reduction in Chemical Fertilizer Application Combined with Organic Fertilizer on Soil Fertility, Tea Yield, and Quality in Tea Garden

DAI Cuiting^1,2, LEI Yu^1,2, LIU Hongyan^1,2, XIANG Fen^1,2, LI Saijun^1,2,*, LI Wei^1,2,*

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Abstract

This study systematically investigated the effects of long-term reduction in chemical fertilizer application and organic fertilizer substitution on soil fertility, spring tea yield and quality in tea garden through long-term field positioning experiments. The experiment included four treatments: no fertilizer (NF), conventional fertilization (CF), microbial fertilizer substitution (MF), and organic fertilizer substitution (OF). The results show that the spring tea yields under MF and OF treatments maintained high yield levels, which had no significant differences to those under CF. In terms of quality, compared to CF, the OF treatment increased free amino acid content by 7.8%, while the MF treatment increased caffeine content by 54.8%. Regarding soil properties, MF and OF treatments increased organic matter by 28.4% and 45.5%, and total nitrogen by 11.1% and 24.8%, respectively, compared to CF. OF promoted the formation of large aggregates (>2 mm) and mean weight diameter, significantly improving soil aggregate structure. While both substitution treatments increased carbon and nitrogen contents in aggregates and reduced the silt-clay fraction (<0.053 mm). In terms of enzyme activity, MF had the strongest promoting effects on urease, sucrase and acid phosphatase activities, while OF significantly increased catalase activity. Principal component analysis shows that OF had the highest soil fertility index (0.474), followed by MF (0.225). Correlation analysis indicates that improvements in soil structure (e.g., reduced silt and clay proportion <0.053 mm and increased aggregate proportion of 0.25-2 mm), organic carbon accumulation, and enhancements in available nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients exhibited the strongest positive correlations with spring tea yield and tea quality (e.g., free amino acid and caffeine contents). These factors may represent key soil mechanisms that synergistically enhance tea yield and quality. This study provided theoretical basis and practical reference for chemical fertilizer reduction and substitution, as well as green production in Hunan tea garden.

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reduction in chemical fertilizer application / soil fertility in tea garden / tea yield / tea quality / soil aggregates

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DAI Cuiting, LEI Yu, LIU Hongyan, XIANG Fen, LI Saijun, LI Wei. The Effects of Long-Term Reduction in Chemical Fertilizer Application Combined with Organic Fertilizer on Soil Fertility, Tea Yield, and Quality in Tea Garden[J]. Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(3): 449-460

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