Chien Shun-yih, 28, smells tea leaves to determine whether they鈥檙e ready in Jiayi, Taiwan, September 6, 2021. Chien estimates he will only harvest 600 kg of tea this year, half of last year, due to the drought and rains, but says he is determined not to be beaten. 鈥淭hese trees are what fed me and brought me up. In return I want to try my best to take good care of them too.鈥� REUTERS
MEISHAN/TAOYUAN, Taiwan 鈥� Chien Shun-yih looks out over his withering tea fields in Taiwan鈥檚 picturesque southern Meishan township and lets out a sigh.
A once-in-a-century drought last year followed by torrential rain this year have decimated his crop and left scrambling to adapt to the extreme weather changes.
鈥淐limate is the thing we can least control in managing our tea plantation,鈥� the 28-year-old Chien told Reuters. 鈥淲e really do rely on the sky to eat.鈥�
Taiwan鈥檚 tea output does not come close to matching China or India鈥檚, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality, especially the high mountain premium Oolong variety that Meishan specializes in.
Tea has been grown in the mountains around Meishan since the island was part of China鈥檚 Qing dynasty in the 19th century. The industry matured and expanded under Japanese imperial rule from 1895-1945.
Chien, who returned to run the family plantation after his father died of cancer four years ago, is now working on coping strategies for extreme weather, including hacking deep into the undergrowth to look for pools to pipe water to the fields.
Lin Shiou-ruei, a government researcher helping Meishan鈥檚 farmers, said another problem the extreme weather brings is pests that attack the young tea buds.
鈥淧ests love the dry and the heat,鈥� she said at her experimental fields in Taoyuan in northern Taiwan. 鈥淧reviously it wouldn鈥檛 be hot until around May to July, but now in April it鈥檚 already really hot.鈥�
Lin is working to educate farmers about the pests that proliferate with climate change, and how to identify and manage them.
Her boss, senior agronomist Tsai Hsien-tsung, said they began monitoring weather changes in the tea country four years ago and have already seen the crop鈥檚 flavor alter with the seasons.
鈥淭emperatures are going up, rainfall is going down. There is less moisture in the air,鈥� he said. 鈥淭ea is very sensitive.鈥�
However, whether or not what is happening in Taiwan鈥檚 tea country is directly related to climate change remains an area for debate.
Chen Yung-ming, head of the Climate Change Division at Taiwan鈥檚 National Science and Technology Centre for Disaster Reduction, said it was not possible to blame the drought on climate change.
鈥淲e can only say that the chance of continuous drought will increase,鈥� he said.
Chien estimates he will only harvest 600 kg (1,300 lb) of tea this year, half of last year鈥檚 crop, due to the drought and rain, but says he is determined not to be beaten.
鈥淭hese trees are what fed me and brought me up. In return I want to try my best to take good care of them too.鈥�