LONGEVITY AND FACTORS INFLUENCING PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN TEA LEAVES

Quadratic relationship between the age of a tea leaf and the net photo synthetic rate (P-N) has been found. A progressive increase in P-N was recorded for four months. Then the P-N slowly declined, yet even seve n-month-old tea leaves sustained a low P-N. In a tea shoot, the P-N in creased from the first leaf onwards. Besides the physiological maturit y and proximity, photon flux density (PFD) played an important role in reducing the P-N The tea leaf P-N was influenced by cultivation proce dures which in turn disrupted the quantum of PFD transmitted through t he canopy.