Abstract
The traditional method of replanting tea in Darjeeling hills by the manual uprooting of old tea bushes is expensive and promotes soil erosion. The study at Darjeeling Tea Research Centre has revealed that the traditional method can be substituted by minimum tillage replanting after killing the chopped stumps of tea with 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid (2,4-D) at the rate of 0.8 kg a.i. in 75 litres of water (500 ml fluid stump-1) or urea at the rate of 250 g stump-1. The survival percentage and yield of young plants are high in 2,4-D treated plots. Chopping treatments have effectively controlled soil erosion. Primary root disease was not observed on the roots of chopped stumps nor the roots of young plants.
