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TV-1 tea (Tocklai Vegetative-1 clone) Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

TV-1 tea (Tocklai Vegetative-1 clone)

Tocklai Vegetative-1, universally abbreviated as TV-1, is the first vegetatively propagated tea clone released in India. It was selected by the Tocklai Experimental Station (now the Tea Research Association, Jorhat, Assam) in 1949 from a single high-yielding seedling bush in the Tocklai garden and released for commercial planting in 1953. TV-1 launched the Indian tea industry's transition from heterogeneous "jat seedling" planting to uniform clonal sections and remains in the field on tens of thousands of hectares across Assam, Dooars and Terai.

Key characteristics

  • Bred by: Tocklai Experimental Station, Jorhat (now TRA)
  • Year of release: 1949 (selection), 1953 (commercial release)
  • Parentage: open-pollinated assamica seedling — a typical Tea Camellia Sinensis Assamica tree
  • Growth habit: semi-erect bush, vigorous, broad-leaved, light-green flush with reddish young leaf veins
  • Yield: 2200-2800 kg made tea/ha in well-managed plains plantings on a 7-day plucking round
  • Climatic suitability: hot, humid plains and foothills — Brahmaputra valley, Dooars, Terai, Tripura, north Bengal

Cultivation

TV-1 is propagated by single-internode leaf cuttings raised in polythene sleeves under polypropylene shade for 12-15 months before field planting. Recommended field spacing is 1.20 × 0.75 m in single hedge (≈11,000 plants/ha). Permanent shade with Albizia odoratissima and A. chinensis is standard. The clone responds well to high NPK (240:60:240 kg/ha for mature sections) and benefits from prophylactic foliar zinc and boron. Pruning cycle is medium-prune at 50-60 cm every 4-5 years, with annual skiffing.

TV-1 leaf is medium in polyphenols and oxidises readily, giving a strong, brisk, coloury liquor. It is overwhelmingly processed as CTC (Tea Ctc Cut Tear Curl Process) for the domestic milk-tea blend market, but can also be made as orthodox whole-leaf when the flush is fine and slow (Tea Orthodox Vs Ctc Processing).

Pests and diseases

TV-1 is moderately susceptible to Tea Mosquito Bug Helopeltis Tea and red spider mite, and is rated tolerant — not resistant — to Tea Blister Blight Exobasidium. It is sensitive to drought stress on shallow soils; the later TV-9, TV-18, TV-23, TV-25, TV-26 and TV-30 series were bred for improved yield, quality and pest tolerance.

Adoption

TV-1 was the workhorse of the 1950s-70s clonal replanting drive in Assam and Dooars and is still planted on an estimated 10-15% of clonal area. It is the historical benchmark against which all subsequent TV clones are measured at TRA, and it remains the standard rootstock in clonal nurseries.

See also: Tea Camellia Sinensis Assamica, Tea Camellia Sinensis China Type, Tea Orthodox Vs Ctc Processing, Tea Ctc Cut Tear Curl Process, Tea Mosquito Bug Helopeltis Tea, Tea Blister Blight Exobasidium.

References

  1. Tea Research Association Tocklai — TV clone catalogue. https://www.tocklai.org/
  2. Tea Board India — Recommended clones. https://www.teaboard.gov.in/