Environmental Problems From Tea Cultivation in Japan and a Control Measure Using Calcium Cyanamide1

ABSTRACTA field experiment, involving lime N (calcium cyanamide, CaCN2) fertilization as a control measure, was conducted to study environmental problems induced by long-term heavy N application in Japanese tea fields. Long-term tea cultivation caused serious soil acidification. Seventy-seven percent of the 70 tea fields investigated had soil pH values below 4.0, and 9% below 3.0, with the lowest value of 2.7. Moreover, excess N application in tea fields put a threat to plant growth, induced serious nitrate contamination to local water, and caused high nitrous oxide loss. Compared with the conventional high N application treatment (1100 kg N ha−1) without lime N, the low N application (400 kg N ha−1) with calcium cyanamide effectively stopped soil acidification as well as achieved the same or slightly higher levels in tea yield and in total N and amino acid contents of tea shoots. The application of calcium cyanamide could be a suitable fertilization for the prevention of environmental problems in tea cultivation.