Abstract: Tea is an important agricultural industry with great comparative advantage in southern China. However, there are some problems in tea fertilization inducing large nutrient loss, higher production cost and environmental risks. These problems are mainly excessive nutrient input, low proportion of specialized compound fertilizer for tea, low substitution rate of organic nutrients and low efficient application methods such as surface broadcasting. This paper summarized previous results and formulated a technical strategy of integrated nutrient management in tea plantation (INMT) including optimizing nutrient input amounts, properly replacing part of chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizers, choosing right fertilizer products, improving fertilization methods and ameliorating soil properties. Optimization of nutrient input amounts was achieved by controlling whole annual N input on the basis of tea type and yield level, and P and K on their relevant ratio to N and soil test if available. Limits of top input for these nutrients were suggested. Reasonable replacement ratio of organic fertilizer was recommended at 25%-50% of the total N input. A compound fertilizer with specialized formula for tea was developed and tested in more than 70 plantations across the main tea producing areas, efficiently increasing yield and quality while saving nutrient input. Fertilizer application was improved through changing topdressing period and adopting deep and mechanical application.Integrated nutrient management of tea was evaluated in 9 farmers’ and cooperative tea plantations. The average yield was increased by 9% in contrast with 42% reduction of average nutrient input. The tea quality was maintained or improved as indicated by slightly increased contents of amino acids and tea polyphenols.

Key words: Camellia sinensis, integrated nutrient management, reduction of chemical fertilizer, total nitrogen supply strategy, NPK relevant ratio