Heatwaves across China from June 13–August 16 have defoliated millions of tea plants, halting the harvest in many areas. Source: China Cooperative Times Tea Weekly | Central Meteorological Observatory
A record-breaking 12-week heat wave in China has defoliated millions of tea bushes, halting the summer tea harvest across the central and southwestern regions.
Producers say that temperatures in many tea-growing regions have now exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for weeks, causing leaves to crumble and small branches to break. At temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, the leaves of the tea bush turn red and are no longer suited to making tea, although the plant will recover during the following flush. The areas hit worst are in the provinces of Sichuan, Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang, and in other inland growing regions in southern China. Growers in Sichuan must also contend with cut-offs in hydropower because drought has reduced the capacity of reservoirs there by half. The deadly 6.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the province on September 5 generated landslides that have further hindered tea production.
The damage to late spring, summer, and autumn crops across the country will reverse the gains seen in 2021 when China reported an overall increase of about 77,100 metric tons, according to the China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA). Tea production exceeded 3 billion kilograms, up by 2.6% compared to 2020. Acreage under tea grew by about 3% in China’s 18 major tea-producing provinces in 2021, when the nation produced 45% of the world's tea.
Many provinces in the Sichuan Basin and those straddling the Yangtze River have experienced more than 30 days of extreme temperatures, greatly affecting plantations For example, in Hangzhou, a growing region famous for its Longjing tea, high temperatures killed clonal tea bushes and put seed-grown bushes under great stress. According to growers, the damage already done will reduce next year's harvest by 20%.
In Hunan, Zhou Changshu, chairman of the Hunan Jinjing Tea Industry Group, told local media, “The drought is the most serious in decades. Production of summer and autumn tea is definitely reduced, and we can only try our best to fight the drought and protect seedlings.”
Growers in Hubei Province report heat damaged 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of tea gardens. Even in northern Fujian, a coastal growing region, growers anticipate a one-third drop in spring yields.
Hunan’s meteorological department carried out 155 cloud-seeding operations in August. Only one generated rainfall, on August 17, which was inadequate to reverse the damage.
In the driest regions, growers spread straw and sawdust and cut weeds to cover the ground around plants to reduce heat retention. Growers with access to irrigation water have been able to use it to create a spray to dissipate heat, but tributaries feeding the Yangtze River are dry, and the river is at its lowest level for this time of year since record-keeping began in 1865.
The extreme heat and drought roasting southern China for at least 70 straight days exceeds any such weather since records have been kept in China or elsewhere around the world for that matter, according to a report by Axios news.