Abstract:
Tea is a shade-loving plant and is propagated either by seeds or cuttings. The seedling teas exhibit the ability to
endure prolonged droughts while still achieving vigorous shoot growth. This study aimed to identify high performing seedling teas in Passara where drought is a key determinant of tea yield. Twenty-one high-performing
seedlings and six extensively-used vegetatively propagated tea cultivars from three randomly selected tea estates
in Passara were compared morphologically based on shoot density, banji shoots, shoot weight, internodal length,
length, and width of the mature leaf. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Minitab (version
17) software. The findings demonstrated a significant difference among tea bushes considering selected
morphological traits at a 5% significance level. Clustering analysis of Gonakele estate grouped GS4 with TRI
2025, GS2, and GS3 with TRI 2043. VS1 and VS3 seedlings from Varellapathna estate were clustered with TRI
2023 and CY9, respectively. Hopton estate seedlings did not cluster with vegetatively propagated cultivars.
Therefore, GS2, GS3, GS4 from Gonakale, and VS1, and VS3 from Varellapathna were selected as mother
bushes. Thus, the findings unveil distinct clusters of high-performing seedling teas from various estates, providing
insights into potential candidates for maintaining genetic diversity in tea plantations
