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Effects of climate change on the economic output of the Longjing-43 tea tree, 1972–2013

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Abstract

Based on phenological and economic output models established and meteorological data from 1972 to 2013, changes in the phenology, frost risk, and economic output of the Longjing-43 tea tree in the Yuezhou Longjing tea production area of China were evaluated. As the local climate has changed, the beginning dates of tea bud and leaf plucking of this cultivar in all five counties studied has advanced significantly by −1.28 to −0.88 days/decade, with no significant change in the risk of frost. The main tea-producing stages in the tea production cycle include the plucking periods for superfine, grade 1, and grade 2 buds and leaves. Among the five bud and leaf grades, the economic output of the plucking periods for superfine and grade 1 decreased significantly, that for grade 2 showed no significant change, and those for grades 3 and 4 increased significantly. The economic output of large-area tea plantations employing an average of 45 workers per hectare and producing superfine to grade 2 buds and leaves were significantly reduced by 6,745–8,829 yuan/decade/ha, depending on the county. Those tea farmers who planted tea trees on their own small land holdings and produced superfine to grade 4 tea buds and leaves themselves experienced no significant decline in economic output.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was financially supported by a major agricultural grant from the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province, China (No. 2011C22082). This work was also supported by a 2013 disaster research fund from the People’s Insurance Company of China (Grant 2013B16).

Ethical standards

The experiments performed in this paper complied with the current laws of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Xinchang Weather Bureau, Xinchang County, 312500, Zhejiang Province, China

    Weiping Lou & Ke Sun

  2. Applied Hydrometeorological Research Institute, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), Nanjing, 210044, China

    Shanlei Sun

  3. Zhejiang Provincial Climate Center, Hangzhou, 310017, China

    Lihong Wu

Authors
  1. Weiping Lou
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  2. Shanlei Sun
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  3. Lihong Wu
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  4. Ke Sun
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Correspondence to Weiping Lou.

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Lou, W., Sun, S., Wu, L. et al. Effects of climate change on the economic output of the Longjing-43 tea tree, 1972–2013. Int J Biometeorol 59, 593–603 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-014-0873-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-014-0873-x

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