Institute of Fruit Tree and Tea Science, NARO

During this five-year research period, we are working on two major research projects. The first is to breed cultivars containing health-benefit ingredients and develop technologies for utilizing health-benefit ingredients in order to increase the demand for tea. The second research project is development of labor-saving and smart production technology that contributes to the productivity improvement for tea producers who are expanding their management scale. In addition, in order to support the expansion of Japanese tea exports, we are developing production technology that complies with the MRL (maximum residual standard value) of the importing country in collaboration with pest control researchers at the Institute for Plant Protection, NARO. In addition, we are working to popularize the new tea cultivar "Seimei," which has excellent yield and quality in covering cultivation and is resistant to major diseases.