2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Tea plant, Camellia sinensis is an evergreen shrub adapted to the climate and acidic soils in Louisiana and many areas in the southeast. Production of tea as a commercial crop had been trialed in the history when there were shortages of tea supply but had never been further developed due to the intensive labor requirement in harvesting and processing tea. In recent years, however, there has been an increased interest in growing tea locally when the cost of labor in traditional tea production countries increased tremendously. This has made the price of locally grown tea, such as those from HI tea farmers, more competitive with the imported tea. In addition, the supporting local economy and local produce movement has made the timing perfect for local farmers to grow tea. A LSU AgCenter research project has looked at production and processing technologies for growing tea in Louisiana. An overview of the current commercial tea production in the U.S. and preliminary results from this research project will be shared with readers. An interview with a tea grower from Amite La will add in the perspective of new growers in terms of challenges and opportunities.