Betjan
A seed-grown Assam jat named after the Betjan Tea Estate in Tinsukia district. It is not on the Tea Board's list of approved clones and biclonal seed stocks, and we found no published yield or disease figure for it. An open-university tea course names it as the jat that started tea in Argentina.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Tea
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Kharif
- Starts bearing
- Grown from seed; no published first-pluck age for Betjan
- Expected yield
- No published yield figure; seed-grown bushes vary from bush to bush
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No published disease rating
- Release
- Traditional Assam seed jat, named after the Betjan Tea Estate seed gardens · predates the clonal release system, so no notification year is on record · not on the Tea Board's approved list
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Betjan is a traditional Assam "jat", tea grown from seed rather than from a rooted cutting. Gillanders lists a Betjan Tea Estate in Tinsukia district, upper Assam, and a tea-company article says the jat is named after that estate's seed gardens (baries). Because its seed comes from many mother bushes and not from one clone, Betjan bushes are not identical. It predates the clonal system of variety release, so no release year or notification is on record. A tea course from Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University says tea growing in Argentina began with the Betjan jat, and that four plantations were set up between 1923 and 1930. Other accounts of Argentine tea give Russian or Chinese seed instead, so treat the Argentina link as one source's claim. The Tea Board's approved list covers Tocklai clones, garden clones and biclonal seed stocks, and Betjan is not in it. We found no published yield, first-pluck age or disease rating for Betjan.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Betjan only if your aim is to keep an old Assam seed-grown jat alive, or to fill a heritage garden. For a planting you must earn money from, a clone with a published yield class is the safer buy. The Tea Board's list gives TV1, for example, a Standard class of 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare. For Betjan we found no yield, no first-pluck age and no disease rating. Seed-grown bushes also differ from one another, so no two plots will match.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- An old Assam jat with a place in the history of Argentine tea, according to one academic course.
- Grown from seed, so planting stock costs less effort than rooting cuttings.
- Seed-grown bushes keep a wide genetic base, which has value for conservation.
Things to consider
- No published yield, first-pluck age or disease rating.
- Not on the Tea Board's approved list, so ask the Tea Board office before you plan any subsidised planting with it.
- Seed-grown bushes differ from one another, so yield and quality vary across a plot.
- We found no current source of Betjan seed.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Assam
Seed, biclonal seed or clone: where Betjan fits
Indian tea is planted in three ways, and the Tea Board's list of approved planting material shows two of them. The first is a clone: a rooted cutting from one mother bush, so every plant is the same. The list gives each Tocklai clone a class and a yield potential, such as TV1 at 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare.
The second is a biclonal seed stock. Two chosen clones are crossed and the seed is sown. Tocklai's list names stocks such as TS 378, TS 379 and TS 569, and marks several as suitable for Darjeeling and other hilly areas only. In south India, UPASI's BSS-I to BSS-V are described as moderate yielders that tolerate drought and suit infilling, replanting and extension planting.
The third is an old jat such as Betjan: seed from open pollination among many bushes, with no controlled cross. Every seedling is a little different, so the plot is a mix. That mix is why jats are valued for conservation and why a grower cannot count on a yield class.
So the question for Betjan is not "is it good?" but "what do you need?" Choose a clone or a biclonal stock for a plantation you must earn from. Choose a jat to keep Assam's old bushes alive, and accept that you will be working without published numbers.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Tea variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Starts bearing | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betjanthis page | Conservation and heritage plantings, not a yield plan | Grown from seed; no published first-pluck age for Betjan | No published yield figure; seed-grown bushes vary from bush to bush | Assam |
| TV1 (Tocklai Vegetative 1) | A proven all-round clone with a 75-year record | Planted as a rooted cutting; no TV1-specific first-pluck age published | 3,000–3,500 kg made tea/ha potential (Tea Board "Standard" class) | Assam, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh |
| UPASI-9 | Drought-prone blocks and infilling in south India, with blight spraying planned | Planted as a rooted cutting; no UPASI-9-specific first-pluck age published | UPASI lists it as high yield; no kg per hectare figure published | Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Tea is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Tea plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Tea variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Tea into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Tea in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Tea rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Frequently asked questions
Why was Betjan seed sent to Argentina?
We can only report one source. A tea course from Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University says tea growing in Argentina began with the Betjan jat, and that four plantations were set up at Tres Capones, Loreto, La Mered and Puerto Bomberg between 1923 and 1930. Other accounts say the first Argentine tea came from Russian or Chinese seed. We found no shipping record, so treat this as a claim and not a settled fact.
Is Betjan still commercially planted today?
We found no figure for how much Betjan is still planted. It is not in the Tea Board's list of approved clones, and the planting material that list names is clonal or biclonal. A tea-company article says small conservation seed gardens have been restarted in recent years. Ask the Tea Research Association at Tocklai where Betjan seed can be had today.
Is Betjan on the Tea Board's list of approved planting material?
Not in the copy we read. That list names Tocklai clones TV1 to TV31 and the TTRI series, garden clones from named estates, and biclonal seed stocks such as TS 378. An old jat like Betjan is not in it. If you plan to plant with a Tea Board scheme, ask the nearest Tea Board office in writing whether Betjan seed qualifies, before you buy anything.
Can I collect seed from my own Betjan bushes and sow it?
You can, but the seedlings will differ. Tea flowers are largely cross-pollinated, and a jat has no controlled cross, so each seed carries a different mix. Expect a patchy plot with some good bushes and some poor ones. If you do it for conservation, collect seed from many bushes you like and keep a map of where each lot went. If you want an even plot, a clone is the answer.
How does Betjan compare with TV1?
We can compare only what is published. TV1 is a clone in the Tea Board's Standard class, with a yield potential of 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare, and Tocklai uses it as a control. Betjan has no published yield, first-pluck age or disease rating. The practical difference is certainty: a TV1 plot is uniform and has a number to plan on, and a Betjan plot is a mix with none.
Where does the name Betjan come from?
From the Betjan Tea Estate in Tinsukia district, upper Assam, which Gillanders lists among its gardens. A tea-company article says the jat is named after that estate's seed gardens, called baries, where its seed was raised. We could not open that article again to confirm the detail, so we report it as one source's account.
Sourced from: Argentina — Tea World, Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, List of approved planting materials — Tea Board of India, Tea Division — Gillanders Arbuthnot (lists Betjan Tea Estate, Tinsukia), Tea varieties — Kerala Agricultural University (UPASI biclonal seed stocks), Assam Jat: The Lost Seed — Rujani Tea (Medium). editorial policy.