The Tea Industry and Improvements in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to give detailed information about the introduction, history, culture, production, achievements, etc. of tea in Turkey. The first attempt to introduce tea to Turkey at the turn of the 19th century from China was unsuccessful because the wrong location was selected. However, later attempts from 1924 to 1937 with imported seeds from Georgia within the former USSR succeeded. A tea law was completed by the government in 1940 and until today tea farmers have been supported by the government. In 1947, the first tea factory with 60 tonnes/day capacity was built in Rize, capital of the tea industry in Turkey. The tea industry and growing areas developed and expanded very fast between 1950 and 1960, and in 1965 the tea production in Turkey reached a selfsufficient level. The country is now one of the most important tea producers in the world in terms of the production. Currently, all tea plantations in Turkey are established by seedlings and show huge heterogeneity. Around 1970s, some selection studies were carried out on these seedlings to obtain promising clones and some clones were created and released but not widely commercialized. The tea industry in Turkey solely consists of black tea production but more recently product diversification (green tea, mixed with some fruits) has been initiated. In addition, tea improvement activities which concentrate on clonal selection to decrease seedling populations have also been initiated again.