Presented by the Hawaiʻi Tea Society

Please join us for this educational workshop with presentations by Bob Perry of Perry Ag Lab, and Bob Shaffer of Soil Culture Consulting and learn about the nature of Camellia sinensis, soil and cultivating high quality Tea in Hawaiʻi.

Cultural practices that are simple, economical and effective for raising high quality Tea in Hawaiʻi will be discussed including how to develop soil health, how to elevate the quality of Camellia sinensis and the essential connections between soil health, minerals, Humus and the quality of the Tea raised.

Perry and Shaffer are professional agronomists’, each with decades of practical hands on experience in Hawaii farming systems, holistic farming and developing practical solutions to farming challenges.

Please join us in this unique opportunity to learn about holistic systems management of Camellia sinensis, creating soil health and to enjoy Hawaiʻi Tea together.

Registration fee (at-the-door & advance sales)
Current members:

• Free – Register Here.
• To become a member for $25 ($15 for students/seniors), please visit member registration before Sept. 5, 2010.

Non-members:

• $40 at the door (Please click here to register)
• $30 in advance (click on PayPal button below to pay, you will be redirected to the registration form after payment)

Advance registrations can be made by clicking on the PayPal button below. Payment is handled by PayPal with a PayPal account or your own credit card (a PayPal account is not required). After completing payment, you will be redirected back to the HTS site to fill out the registration form.

Project director Eva Lee, coordinator of the Hawaii group of delegates attending the World Tea Expo, says this group of tea producers and professionals from the University of Hawaii at Manoa CTAHR Tea Project is bound to help put Hawaii grown tea on the map. The state of Hawaii is the nation’s largest tea producer and a leader in research on fine quality Camellia sinensis teas.

The farms in the delegation all represent a spectrum of tea agriculture, propagation, product development, agro tourism, research and experience in education. The delegates are Eva Lee of Tea Hawaii & Company and Kimberly Ino of Mauna Kea Tea both from Hawai`i Island, Liam Ball of Na Liko Tea from Maui and Michelle Rose of Cloudwater Tea Farm from Kauai. Tea products will also be on display with the Hawaii Grown Tea Delegation at the World Tea Expo including value added tea products by Mike Riley of Volcano Tea Garden, John Cross of Johnny’s Garden and Alex Wood of Volcano Winery all located on Hawai`i Island.

For the past ten years Hawaii has benefited from the experimentation of tea agriculture as well as the reintroduction of tea in Hawaii by research scientist Dr Francis Zee of USDA-ARS Pacific Basin Agriculture Research Center partnered with the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Tea Project. Research continues on various aspects of cultivating, processing and marketing of Hawaii grown tea operated from the commercial-scale processing facility at the Mealani Research Station in Kamuela, Hawaii.

Collaborating in many projects together in educating the public and cultivation practices, tea growers on all islands have developed and are producing white, green, oolong and black teas unique to Hawaii. This specialty crop is marketed to commercial niche businesses in Hawaii and abroad.

As a state, Hawaii has the largest number of tea gardens and estates in the U.S. producing whole leaf finished teas and numerous value added products, as well as plant propagation and research activities.

The World Tea Expo held June 11- 13th at the convention center in Las Vegas, Nevada will bring together tea industry professionals attending and exhibiting as well as holding conference topics including Hawaii grown tea. Delegation project director Eva Lee is a selected speaker on the importance of Hawaii grown tea. Internationally renowned tea professional speaker and author Jane Pettigrew of the United Kingdom will feature focused tasting sessions of Hawaii grown tea.

“It’s been a decade of dedication for us tea growers learning as we go and finding our way with tea. We will be proud to share our tea history in this international arena. It will provide an opportunity for our federal, state and county interests to be recognized beyond our boarders and support the creative artistry that our tea growers contribute in state agriculture,” says Lee.

The project is supported by the Big Island Resource Conservation & Development Council, and co-sponsored by Tea Hawaii & Company in cooperation with the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

For more information on the World Tea Expo please go to
www.worldteaexpo.com

For inquiries, please fill out the below form:
[contact-form]

Release No. HI-10-10

USDA Invites Applications for Renewable Energy Funding

Funds Will Help Increase Production and Use of Renewable Energy, Create Jobs, and Protect Natural Resources

HILO, HI, May 4, 2010 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is seeking applications to increase the production and use of renewable energy sources. Funding is available from four USDA Rural Development renewable energy programs authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill).

“This funding will help spur investments in technologies that will reduce reliance on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources and help build a sustained renewable energy industry in rural America,” Vilsack said. “Support provided by USDA through these programs will not only benefit the environment, it will create green jobs and help America become more energy self-sufficient.”

USDA is accepting applications for grants and loan guarantees in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) until June 30, 2010. More information on how to apply for funding is available in the April 26, 2010 Federal Register. The Rural Energy for America Program provides funds to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements.

Eligible projects include installing renewable energy systems such as wind turbines, solar, geothermal, biomass, anaerobic digesters, hydroelectric, and ocean or hydrogen systems. Funding may also be used to purchase energy-efficient equipment, add insulation, and improve heating and cooling systems. In fiscal year 2009, this program helped fund 1,485 REAP projects in 50 states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Western Pacific Islands.

“The Rural Energy for America Program enables owners of small rural businesses, farms and ranches to reduce energy consumption, part of President Obama’s effort to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and the destabilizing effects of a changing climate,” Vilsack said. “Through this program, farmers, agricultural producers and small business owners will be able to upgrade or replace outdated, inefficient systems in their operations. That not only saves money, it supports job creation.”

One rural company that used REAP funds to reduce energy costs is Energex American, Inc., a Mifflintown, Penn., based pellet manufacturing firm. In 2009, the company received a $476,685 grant to help fund the installation of an industrial dryer powered by woody biomass. The company reduced its annual demand for propane by 150,000 gallons and realized energy savings of nearly 98 percent.

The Hawaii State Rural Development Office has received an allocation of REAP funds. State Director Chris J. Kanazawa has established a deadline of May 21 2010 for the receipt of applications from the State of Hawaii and American Samoa; and a deadline of June 4, 2010 for the receipt of applications from Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Applications received after these due dates will have to compete Nationally for funding consideration. Please contact Denise Oda, Business Programs Specialist in Hilo at 808-933-8323 (denise.oda@hi.usda.gov) for further information.

In addition to the REAP program, Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA is also planning to accept applications for three other renewable energy programs: the Biorefinery Assistance Program, Repowering Assistance Program and the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. Details on how to apply will be released later this week in the Federal Register. USDA’s Biorefinery Assistance Program provides guaranteed loans to develop and construct commercial-scale biorefineries or to retrofit existing facilities using eligible technology for the development of advanced biofuels. The amount of a loan guaranteed for a project under this program cannot exceed 80 percent of total eligible project costs.

The Repowering Assistance Program is designed to encourage the use of renewable biomass as a replacement fuel source for fossil fuels used to provide process heat or power in the operation of eligible biorefineries (those biorefineries in existence on June 18, 2008 — the date the 2008 Farm Bill was enacted).

The Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels works to support and ensure expanding production of advanced biofuels by providing payments to eligible advanced biofuels producers. Advanced biofuels are derived from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch. These include cellulose, sugar and starch, crop residue, vegetative waste material, animal waste, food and yard waste, vegetable oil, animal fat, and biogas (including landfill gas and sewage waste treatment gas). This program is an important part of achieving the Obama administration’s goal to increase biofuels production and use. USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, administers and manages more than 40 housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a national network of 6,100 employees located in the nation’s capital and 500 national, state and local offices. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America. Rural Development has an existing portfolio of more than $134 billion in loans and loan guarantees. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

When we think of tea, our minds usually turn to exotic places, far from American soil. But that long-held geographical reference may be changing. From the volcanic soil of the Big Island of Hawaii and a sea island off the coast of South Carolina to the relatively rural Yolo County of northern California and the fields of northern Washington State, Camellia sinensis and assamica varieties may be thought of as an agricultural product grown closer to home.

To listen to the tea master/grower William Hall tell it, it’s been a long road from the Charleston Tea Plantation’s original incarnation as an agricultural tea station to its current-day status as a commercial tea estate in partnership with Bigelow, producing from 127 acres, in his words, “light, bright, and mellow” teas for a limited regional distribution, attuned to American tastes. Combining horticultural knowledge and a well-trained, fine-tuned palate, Hall has helmed the operation at Wadmalaw Island for more than 20 years.

A relative newcomer, Tea Hawaii’s Eva Lee, enjoys the hands-on involvement in cultivating and processing tea leaf on the Big Island of Hawaii in the shadow of the volcanoes of Kilauea, where the climate favors growing activity nearly year round – even at lower elevations – a situation that most of the world’s tea-growing countries can’t claim to enjoy. (Stay tuned for a future post on some culinary uses for fresh tea leaves, which arrived in my kitchen in perfect condition, thanks to Eva, from Tea Hawaii).

Spurred by a visit to the Hawaiian tea-growing region, Chinese tea expert and importer Roy Fong sees the potential for growing tea in California’s Yolo County, where he will add 10 acres of tea plants to his newly purchased 23-acre parcel of land not far from Sacramento. But patience is the name of the game, as the plants will take approximately three years before they produce harvestable leaves.

Richard Sakuma has looked to his Japanese heritage for inspiration, devoting 3.5 acres on his family’s berry farm to the cultivation of tea plants. In truly artisanal fashion, with the help of tea-processing equipment from Taiwan, he currently produces small quantities of white tea, green tea, and a lightly oxidized oolong for sale on the farm. Time will tell which direction Sakuma will take in tea horticulture.

Though the returns aren’t all in on the domestic tea-growing front, which is truly in its infancy in the U.S., there is change afoot. Rest assured that American horticultural ingenuity and a hunger to return to the land on the part of passionate, brave, and dedicated tea growers and tea lovers, along with the foodie public’s increased interest in consuming locally grown products will all fuel interesting developments along these lines. Remember that it was just 30 years ago – a blink of an eye when compared to the long history of tea – when the French thought that the only good sparkling wine came from Champagne, France, that is, until they found the microclimates and soils of Napa to be perfectly suited to growing grapes that yielded Champagne-style wines that would rival the best of French bubbly. Who says that the same may not be true for tea?

Internationally renowned tea professional Jane Pettigrew from the United Kingdom will be coming to Hawaii to speak with the public on the culture of the world tea industry in relation to how it may help Hawaii tea growers to understand participation from within.

For inquiries, please fill out the below form:
[contact-form]

HOW TO CREATE STEADY CASH FLOW THROUGH INTERNET MEMBERSHIP
SYSTEM – OBUBU TEA PLANTATION

Where: Hilo, Conference room, Komohana Research and Extension Center, CTAHR 875 Komohana Street

Event Date: Tuesday, Jan. 19
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Speaker: Mr. Yasuharu Matsumoto, VP Obubu Tea Plantation, Kyoto, Japan.
Obubu Tea Plantation is a six year old farm with four employees growing teas on 4.1 acres garden. It’s membership system supports their operation with traditional marketing approaches.

Event Contact Name: Russell T. Nagata – CTAHR, Hawaii County Administrator
Event Contact Phone: 969-8209
Event Contact E-mail: russelln@hawaii.edu

December 10, Thurs.  10:30 a.m - 11:30 a.m

Komohana Research and Extension Center
875 Komohana St., Hilo

Professor Wan-fang Shao is the Dean of the College of Longrun Pu-erh Tea and Institute of Yunnan Pu-erh Tea at Yunnan Agricultural University, China.  Her research areas include the history of pu-erh tea, tea tree germplasm resource, tea process technology, tea biochemical components, and tea health benefits. Dr Shao is a renown authority of pu-erh tea in China.

Contact : Dwight Sato at 969-8271

By Mark T. Nickum, PhD

Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, in the family Theaceae, is grown through an impressive range of tropical and subtropical regions, and in some instances can survive in snow and below freezing temperatures.  Tea is found as far north as 41 and 42° N in areas such as Turkey and Georgia, and as far south as 27° S in Argentina.  In subtropical areas tea is grown in Japan -Kyoto and Kanaya; China -Yunnan and Zhejiang; North India -Assam, Cachar, and Darjeeling; Taiwan; and Central Africa -Malawi.  In tropical regions tea is found in South India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya (Othieno 1992).  The Theaceae section in the Flora of China (Min and Bartholomew 2007) cites C. sinensis as being found at an elevation of 100-2200 m, in evergreen, broad-leaved forests and thickets.  It is found in the Chinese provinces and regions of Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, Sichuan, SE Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Taiwan, and listed in NE India, S Japan, S Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Since it has been widely cultivated over such a long time, the original wild distribution in E Asia is obscured (Min and Bartholomew 2007).

In equatorial regions, tea is typically planted at high altitudes (1000-3000m), and as plantings are made further away from the equator, they are closer to sea level.  The species developed in the Himalayan mountain range.  Key climatic requirements which developed for the species out of its environment of origin include temperatures somewhat less than tropical, relatively continuous rainfall throughout the year, and high humidity.  The species is used to low soil pH which can be highly leached.  Two types of tea are generally recognized:  the Chinese variety, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, which developed in the northern slopes of the Himalayas and in higher altitudes, and is more tolerant of cooler temperatures than the Assam type, var. assamica, which developed in the south.  The Chinese variety developed in less dense forest where it was not as wet, cooler temperatures, and developed into more of a bush with smaller leaves, while the Assam variety developed in rainforest conditions as more of a tree with larger leaves (Willson 1999).

It is postulated, by odontological examination, that Gigantopithecus blacki consumed tea by chewing on the wild leaves growing in the wild tea forests as part of the large ape’s habitat (Evans 1992). If this is correct, that would mean that Gigantopithecus blacki was consuming some form of tea potentially 100,000 to 1,000,000 years ago, long before humans were ever on the scene.  Other anthropologists also speculate that Homo erectus would have found wild tea trees growing in forests of Yunnan in their search for edibles (Heiss and Heiss 2007).

Among tea’s earliest uses, besides that of firewood, was that of medicine.  In the Shang dynasty (1766 to 1050 BC), in Yunnan, tea was boiled with other herbs and plants which made up the herbal remedies of the time.  Later, in the Zhou dynasty (1122 to 256 BC), tea trees were discovered in Sichuan Province, just to the northeast of Yunnan.  This may be the first place and time where tea was boiled by itself to form a drink solely of tea, without the purpose to be medicinal (Heiss and Heiss 2007).

Tea clearly became a “cultural keystone species,” beginning in China.  Among other drinkers of tea, the monks of the three great religions of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism strongly favored tea for its healthful and stimulating properties from about the middle of the Zhou dynasty (1122 to 256 BC).  The monks recommended for all people to drink tea daily (Heiss and Heiss 2007).  Tea drinking became more widespread throughout China during the reign of the first Qin emperor, Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 BC).  Qin Shihuangdi ordered the completion of some previously built fortification walls, that were eventually joined to form the Great Wall of China.  Imperial palaces were also built throughout the empire.  These projects brought together many workers from all across China, and among the exchange of food, culture, and knowledge that took place, tea was shared and became universally desired by a great many people.  Later, tea was planted in a garden on top of Mengding Mountain in Sichuan province around 53 BC.  This planting was made by Wu LiZhen, who was a holy man. The garden and its plants, now called the Seven Tea Trees, was allowed to be used only by the emperor because of the supreme quality of the tea.  It is from this garden that the seeds of Sichuan’s numerous tea gardens came, and Wu LiZhen has become known as the forefather of tea cultivation (Heiss and Heiss 2007).

Tea has been cultivated by the Chinese for well over 2000 years (Weatherstone 1992).  In earlier days tea was mostly grown on many thousands of small plots with only a small number of bushes.  Original development of the Chinese variety occurred in the regions of Sze-chuan, Yu-nan, Burma, and Siam.  Tea was spread by the people of these regions for generations, and tea plants have been found growing close to all the caravan routes between China and India.  Tea grown in the south-east of China remains relatively un-hybridized, while tea growing in the Assam region has become highly hybridized between the wild Assam plants of the region and the introduced Chinese tea varieties brought in by the colonial powers (Weatherstone 1992).  Currently in China, about 340 named varieties of Camellia sinensis are cultivated and all six major classes of tea are made (Heiss and Heiss 2007).

Tea plantations spread to other areas of the world when British interests in tea grew.  The Assam region was ceded to Britain in 1826 after the Burmese wars.  To introduce tea plants from China to Assam, the long journey up the Brahmaputra river from Calcutta by country boats was over 1000 miles and took four and a half months (Weatherstone 1992).  In 1835, an introduction of 20,000, ten month old Chinese tea seedlings, were brought on these boats up to Assam and this met with very limited success of establishing healthy plants.  In fact, 12,000 seedlings died during the trip alone.  At best, 500 plants survived when planted out, and later they were moved to an area where the wild Assam tea was thriving.  The discovery of wild tea plants growing in the jungles of Assam greatly facilitated the development of tea plantations and the tea industry in India.  It was found that the Chinese variety was very sickly in this region, and the Assam variety thrived.  Initial development of tea plantations was undertaken by the Tea Committee, and by Charles Bruce, who became Superintendent of Tea Culture in 1835.  Bruce established nurseries, and searched out the most rich wild tea tracts which were found in the Muttack country of upper Assam, including Chabwa, Deenjoy, and Tingri.  Chinese people who were specialists in tea processing and manufacture had to be brought in to process the new tea.  The first shipment of tea produced on these initial plantations, left Calcutta bound for Britain in May 1838 and these eight chests were sold on the London Commercial Sale Rooms in January 1839.  This was the first India tea sold in Britain, which had only dealt in Chinese tea up until this point.  After the government established that tea could be grown successfully in India, the new tea plantations were handed over to private enterprise by lease (Weatherstone 1992).

The Chinese tea plant produces abundant seed, and as Chinese tea seed continued to be brought into the Assam region, it did eventually become established in the area, and became known as “the curse of the tea industry in Assam.”  Tea seed from Manipuri, Assam, and China was used by the Assam Company to spread tea to the various regions developing tea plantations in India, as well as Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and as far as Java and Sumatra.  In the 1920s, tea seed was shipped from Calcutta to Odessa, where Russia undertook cultivating its own tea industry in Georgia.  Much of the spread of tea around the world can thus be linked to India (Weatherstone 1992).

So the earlier use of tea as medicine and then as popular beverage occurred in China early on, on small production scale, multiplied many times over.  Later development of plantation systems were made by semi-clearing of existing forests in India which contained wild tea plants and thus forming “cultivated tea tracts.”

While in the past, tea was propagate by seed, currently specific varieties are selected and propagated vegetatively by single-leaf cuttings.