Abstract
‘Kanaemaru’ is a new cultivar of green tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O.Kuntze) released by Institute of Fruits Tree and Tea Science, NARO (NIFTS), Japan. ‘Kanaemaru’ was selected from seedlings obtained from a cross between KNA F183 and Kanaya 13 in 1994. It was announced for application for variety registration as No.34332 under the Plant Variety Protection and Seed Act Japan on Feb.13, 2020.
‘Kanaemaru’ is medium cultivar, which opens budding one day later than ‘Yabukita’ and plucks the first crop one day earlier than in local adaptability test. Rooted cutting of ‘Kanaemaru’ was weaker than its ‘Yabukita’, but after planting the former was stronger than later. Plant growth habit is little spreading. The yield and green tea quality of ‘Kanaemaru’ were superior than those of ‘Yabukita’ at first and second crop. A similar tendency is shading cultivation.
‘Kanaemaru’ has higher disease resistance to grey blight (Pestalotiopsis longiseta (Spegazzini) K. Dai & Tak. Kobayashi) and medium resistance to anthracnose (Discula theae-sinensis (I. Miyake) Moriwaki & Toy. Sato) and blister blight (Exobasidium vexans Massee), though it is susceptible to bacterial shoot blight (Pseudomonas syringae pv. theae (Hori 1915) Young, Dye & Wilkie 1978). It has higher insect resistance to white peach scale (Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozetti)).
The cold resistance of ‘Kanaemaru’ such as cold drought damage and freezing damage, was equal to or slightly stronger than that of the strength-resistant ‘Sayamakaori’.
It can be cultivated in major tea-producing areas where ‘Yabukita’ can be cultivated.
