[O-08] Poster presentations by senior high school students

[O08-P59] Soil Research for the Cultivation of Camellia sinensis near the Birthplace of Japanese tea

*Natsumi Hasegawa¹, *Fumi Tokunaga¹ (1.Kyoto Prefectural Sagano High School)

Keywords:Soil Profile, Hydraulic conductivity, Three phases of distribution, Soil penetration strength, Soil pH

Our research study concerns tea plants that are growing in the Sagano High School Woods for Field Studies (SWFS) which is located near the birthplace of Japanese tea. The cultivation of Camellia sinensis requires that the moderate soil be water-holding and have a high degree of permeability. Also a high acidity would make the soil even more desirable. In this paper, we report on the various soil characteristics such as soil hydraulic properties, pH and electrical conductivity (EH), and also include cross-sectional surveys of soils for the cultivation of Camellia sinensis. We developed a method and sampled the subsoil of the SWFS using a single metal cylinder and we checked the cross section in the laboratory. As a result, we confirmed that the soil type was classified as mesic brown forest soil, that O, A and B horizon soil layers had been lost due to soil excavation, that drainage was poor in some of the locations, and that the soil chemistry was good. At present, we are still researching and hope to discover how the soil could possibly be improved.