TV1 (Tocklai Vegetative 1)
From Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, and propagated as rooted cuttings, never from seed. One of the first three clones Tocklai released, before 1950. The Tea Board lists it as an Assam–Cambod hybrid in the Standard class, 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare in potential.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Tea
- Type
- Hybrid
- Season
- Kharif
- Starts bearing
- Planted as a rooted cutting; no TV1-specific first-pluck age published
- Expected yield
- 3,000–3,500 kg made tea/ha potential (Tea Board "Standard" class)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No blister blight or other disease rating in the Tea Board list; none found elsewhere
- Release
- Released before 1950 (1949 in one thesis) · Tocklai Tea Research Institute (Tea Research Association), Jorhat, Assam — one of the first three clones, TV1, TV2 and TV3
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
TV1 (Tocklai Vegetative 1) was one of the first three clones, TV1, TV2 and TV3, that Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, released when it began propagating tea from rooted cuttings. Tocklai lists the release among its achievements before 1950, and an academic thesis dates it to 1949. The Tea Board's list of approved planting material for North East India carries TV1 as an Assam–Cambod (AC) hybrid in the Standard class: above-average yield and quality, with a yield potential of 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare. The same list shows TV1 among the clones acclimatised and in cultivation in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. More than seven decades after its release Tocklai still uses it as a control. A news report on the newer clones TTRI-1 and TTRI-2 said their yield was about a third higher than the mean of the control clones, TV1 among them. A study of tea cultivars across north-east India also found TV1 among the highest for total polyphenols and antioxidant activity in the monsoon flush. We found no published blister blight rating for TV1.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose TV1 if you want a clone with a long public record rather than the highest yield on the list. The Tea Board puts it in the Standard class, 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare in potential, and Tocklai still measures new clones against it. If yield alone decides, the Board's Yield class (4,000 kg and more) holds newer clones such as TV22, TV23, TV25 and TV26, but the Board rates their quality as only average. TV1 must be bought as rooted cuttings from a registered nursery. It does not come true from seed.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- A long public record: released before 1950 and still on the Tea Board's approved list.
- Used by Tocklai as a control clone, so new releases are measured against it.
- Standard class in the Board's list: above-average yield and quality, 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare in potential.
- Among the highest for total polyphenols and antioxidant activity in the monsoon flush in a north-east India cultivar study.
Things to consider
- The Board lists newer clones with a higher yield class (4,000 kg and more), though with only average quality.
- No blister blight or other disease rating is published for TV1 in the sources we found.
- The 3,000–3,500 kg figure is a potential under good management, not an average for every garden.
- Must be bought as rooted cuttings. It does not come true from seed.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Assam
- West Bengal
- Himachal Pradesh
Reading the Tea Board's clone labels: where TV1 sits
The Tea Board's list of approved planting material tags each Tocklai clone with stars and a letter code. One star means Standard: above-average yield and quality, with a potential of 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare. Two stars mean Quality: high quality but average yield, about 2,500–2,800 kg. Three stars mean Yield: average quality but high yield, 4,000 kg or more. The letters give the type: A for Assam, Cam for Cambod, Ch for China.
TV1 carries one star and is listed as an AC hybrid, an Assam–Cambod cross. So the Board calls it a balanced clone, not a top-yield one.
Look down the list and the later clones tell a story. TV18, TV19, TV22, TV23, TV25, TV26, TV29 and TV30 carry three stars, the 4,000 kg class, and all are listed as Cambod type. TV21 and TTRI 2 carry two stars, the quality class. TV1 and most of TV2 to TV17 carry one star.
A potential is not a crop. The kilograms you actually pluck depend on rainfall, the pruning cycle, the plucking round and nutrition, so ask your own estate for its figures before you plan on 3,000 kg.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betjan | 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)this page | 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 is a clone released in 1949 still being used as a "control" in new variety trials?
Because a control must be a stable, well-known reference, and TV1 has been grown for many decades. A news report on Tocklai's newer TTRI-1 and TTRI-2 clones said their yield was about a third higher than the mean of the control clones, TV1 among them. That tells you how the new clones compare. It does not tell you that TV1 is weak.
Can TV1 be grown from seed instead of a clonal cutting?
No. TV1 is a clone, kept true by taking rooted cuttings from a mother bush. Tea flowers are largely cross-pollinated, so seed from a TV1 bush gives seedlings that differ from each other and from the mother. If you want TV1, buy rooted cuttings from a registered nursery.
How much made tea can I expect from TV1?
The Tea Board puts TV1 in its Standard class, with a yield potential of 3,000–3,500 kg of made tea a hectare. That is a potential under good management, not a promise for every garden. Rainfall, pruning, plucking rounds and nutrition all move it. Ask a neighbouring estate with TV1 for its last three years of made-tea figures, and plan on those.
Is TV1 the best Tocklai clone, or are there higher-yielding ones?
There are higher-yielding ones on the Tea Board list. TV18, TV19, TV22, TV23, TV25, TV26, TV29 and TV30 are in the Yield class, 4,000 kg of made tea a hectare or more, against 3,000–3,500 kg for TV1. The Board rates their quality as only average. TV21 and TTRI 2 are in the Quality class instead. Which is best depends on whether you sell on weight or on liquor quality.
Can TV1 be grown outside Assam?
The Tea Board list is headed North East India, so that is its home. The same list also names TV1 among the clones acclimatised and in cultivation in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, alongside AV2, UPASI-9, P312 and TV9. That is a list entry, not a yield trial, and we found no hill-state figures for it. Try a small block first and keep records.
Is TV1 tolerant to blister blight?
We could not find a published rating. The Tea Board list carries yield and quality classes but no disease scores, and the other sources we read give none for TV1. Do not assume tolerance. If your garden sits in a blister blight belt, ask the Tea Research Association or your estate's agronomist how TV1 has behaved nearby, and plan your fungicide rounds from that.
Sourced from: List of approved planting materials — Tea Board of India (Annexure 1, Tocklai clones and Tea Board classes), Major achievements — Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Chapter 4, Results and Discussion — North Bengal University thesis on tea clones (dates TV1, TV2 and TV3 to 1949), Tocklai institute develops 2 tea clones — Assam Tribune, Impact of the Season on Total Polyphenol and Antioxidant Properties of Tea Cultivars of Industrial Importance in Northeast India — PMC. editorial policy.