Organic tea has the highest requirements for product quality, therefore, there are also high demands for base selection. A tea production base with superior environmental conditions is the foundation for producing high-quality products, especially at the current stage where some organic tea production control measures have not effectively solved the problems that have arisen. The selection of the foundation is even more important.
(1) Quality requirements for organic tea products
In July 2002, the Ministry of Agriculture issued the agricultural industry standard for "Organic Tea" (NY5196-2002), which was implemented in September 2002.
In this standard, specific provisions have been made for the basic requirements of organic tea product quality, sensory quality, physical and chemical quality, hygiene indicators, and packaging net content tolerance.
1. Basic requirements
The product has the natural quality characteristics of various types of tea, with pure quality, no deterioration, and no odor; The product is clean and free from contamination during packaging, storage, transportation, and sales; No coloring, no addition of artificially synthesized chemicals and fragrances.
2. Sensory quality
The sensory quality of various types of organic tea should meet the quality requirements specified in the national standards, industry standards, local standards, or enterprise standards of the corresponding standard samples or the actual execution of the product.
3. Physical and chemical quality
The physical and chemical quality of various organic teas conforms to the national standards, industry standards, local standards, or enterprise standards of the corresponding conventional products that are actually implemented.
4. Health indicators
(2) Selection of Organic Tea Base
Like the production technology requirements for pollution-free tea, organic tea production has special requirements for the production environment and production measures.
Organic tea bases have higher indicators for soil, atmosphere, irrigation water sources, etc. than pollution-free tea and green food tea, therefore, the selection requirements for organic tea production bases are higher.
The selected base for organic tea production must have fresh air, pure water quality, uncontaminated soil, fertile soil, excellent tea varieties, and lush surrounding forests.
The distance between organic tea gardens and transportation arteries is over 1000m. Tea gardens have good soil and water conservation, high biodiversity index, and strong sustainable production capacity.
There are clear boundaries and isolation zones between organic tea gardens and conventional agricultural production areas to ensure that organic tea gardens are not contaminated. The isolation zone is suitable for natural barriers such as mountains and natural vegetation, or can be artificially created forests and crops according to organic agricultural production methods.
There are clear boundaries and isolation zones between organic tea gardens and conventional agricultural production areas to ensure that organic tea gardens are not contaminated. The isolation zone is suitable for natural barriers such as mountains and natural vegetation, or can be artificially created forests and crops according to organic agricultural production methods.
There should be no air pollution sources around the organic tea garden. The water quality of surface water and groundwater should be clean and pollution-free. There should be no pollution sources upstream of the base. The production and domestic water should meet the water quality standards of organic food. There should be no pollution from metal or non-metal mines or pesticides in the surrounding area. The soil fertility is high and the texture is good. Soil testing should meet the soil standards of organic food. The environmental air quality, soil quality, and irrigation water quality must all meet the standards.
When selecting a base, the following points can be considered comprehensively:
① The base should be far away from industrial areas, towns, and transportation arteries, and there should be no pollution sources near the base, upwind areas, or upstream rivers.
② The soil background and physicochemical properties of tea gardens are good, and there is no serious history of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or heavy metal pollution.
③ The air in the production base is fresh, the biological vegetation is abundant, and there are abundant organic fertilizer sources around.
④ Producers and operators of production bases have a good foundation in production technology, and large-scale bases should have sufficient labor resources and clean water resources around them.
The seeds and seedlings used in organic food production should come from the organic agriculture production system, but when certified organic seeds and seedlings cannot be obtained in the initial stage of machine production, conventional seeds and seedlings that have not been treated with prohibited substances can be used.
The use of genetically engineered seeds or seedlings is prohibited. If a non organic tea garden that has already been built is converted into an organic tea production garden, it is necessary to choose tea tree varieties with strong stress resistance (such as disease and pest resistance, cold resistance, drought resistance, etc.) and tea gardens with good growth potential, which will be beneficial for future production management.
