Screening of Bangladesh Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) Genotypes for Drought Tolerance

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_3How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Tea; Drought; Morpho-physiological; Water Relation; Biochemical Traits

Abstract

Drought stress is a major abiotic factor limiting tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) productivity worldwide, particularly in Bangladesh, where climatic variability is increasing. This study aimed to screen a diverse collection of tea genotypes for drought tolerance under nursery and field conditions to identify the promising one(s) suitable for cultivation in drought-prone areas of the country. Five tea genotypes (A/17/7, Mz/39, Sh/9/65, B/8/93 and A/8/8) along with a control variety (BT2) were evaluated based on morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters such as plant height, root length, root volume, vertical length of root, dry matter, relative water content (RWC), proline accumulation, total polyphenol content, reducing sugar, etc. Four treatments, viz. T₀ (maintaining 36% soil moisture content) as a control with three drought treatments: T₁ (maintaining 30% soil moisture content), T₂ (maintaining 24% soil moisture content), and T₃ (maintaining 18% soil moisture content), were used for assessing drought tolerance both under nursery and field conditions. Clustering analysis indicated clear variations among the genotypes, where B/8/93 was distinguished as the most drought-tolerant and A/8/8 as the most sensitive. Mz/39 exhibited wide adaptability under field conditions, while the remaining cultivars (BT2, Sh/9/65, and A/17/7) were grouped as having intermediate tolerance. The study provides a foundation for further genetic improvement of drought resilience in tea, contributing to the long-term sustainability of the Bangladesh tea industry.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - M. I. Hossain
AU  - M. Ashrafuzzaman
AU  - M. A. Hossain
AU  - M. M. Rahman
AU  - M. S. A. Fakir
AU  - A. K. M. G. Sarwar
AU  - M. R. Arefin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/15
TI  - Screening of Bangladesh Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) Genotypes for Drought Tolerance
BT  - Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 23
EP  - 45
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_3
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_3
ID  - Hossain2026
ER  -