Calling all US Tea Growers!
4:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, 2013
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Camellia sinensis
- To be the visible focus of tea growers in the USA.
- To actively encourage the growing and production of high value specialty teas within the USA
- To promote and encourage knowledge about specialty tea and to protect the name tea as a Camellia sinensis derived beverage wherever possible.
- Act as a repository and archive for information (technical, scientific, practical and commercial) relevant to US tea growing.
- Bring together US tea growers on a basis of cooperative collaboration
- Encourage sharing of information, equipment and ideas between members
- Act as a forum for US tea growers and formally represent their views on the US Tea Council and the International Tea Committee
- To interact internationally with other tea growers and producers to the mutual benefit of all
- Encourage new entrants into tea growing in the USA via education, provision of training, dissemination of information
- Provision of practical assistance to new growers via workshops, access to cuttings, pooling of machinery
- Stimulate machinery and systems development by academia or commercial companies to enable high technology agronomy and harvesting.
- To produce best-method handbooks of proven practical advice on growing, harvesting and processing of tea in the USA
- Collect and maintain a gene pool representing all beverage Camellia material available in the USA
- Adding to the US held gene pool by accessing genetic material from other tea producer countries
- Exchanging genetic material with other gene pools
- Seek to understand the relationship between the Camellia sinensis genome and commercial requirements
- Test and evaluate the genetic material held to select varieties or cultivars most suitable for US growing conditions – to include season extension, pest and disease tolerance, drought tolerance, mechanical handling suitability, processability, cup quality and health benefits.
- Encourage academia and commercial outlets to take up and refine initial plant selections.