澳大利亚茶叶种植者Australian Tea Growers Are Keen on Green

Australia is recognised, worldwide, for its quality products, as well as green and clean practices. Green tea, however, is not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about exported produce. 

澳大利亚以其优质的产品以及绿色清洁的生产方式而享誉全球。然而，在谈论澳大利亚的出口产品时，想到的第一个产品不会是绿茶。

Around 20 years ago Japanese tea companies were looking for a place to grow their tea during the off season. Working with the Australian government, several test plantations were set up using Japanese tea varietals.

大约20年前，日本的茶叶公司寻找适合淡季种植茶的地方，他们找到了澳大利亚，与澳大利亚政府合作，用日本茶树品种建立了多个试验种植园。

The tea was processed using Japanese processing methods, exported and then sold in Japan where it was marketed under Japanese brands. There are several Australian plantations still under contract to produce good quality sencha style tea for the Japanese market.

采摘的茶也采用日本加工方法加工，出口后在日本以日本品牌销售。目前，仍有数个澳大利亚种植园处于这种合作模式，为日本市场生产优质的煎茶（日本风格的茶）。

Recently, a growing number of Australian tea companies have incorporated some of this tea into their own collections for the Australian market. Although Australia produces less than 1% of the tea consumed worldwide, the federal government recently provided a $100,000 grant to the Australian Green Tea Cooperative to promote the burgeoning industry. There are now 20 commercial gardens in the country with plans for more.

最近，越来越多的澳大利亚茶叶公司将其中一些茶纳入自己的产品系列中，以供澳大利亚市场消费。尽管澳大利亚的茶叶产量不足全球的1％，但联邦政府最近向澳大利亚绿茶合作社提供了10万澳元的赠款，以促进新兴的茶产业的发展。该国现在有20个商业茶园，并计划建设更多的茶园。

Mangrove Mountain in New South Wales has an ideal climate and was one of the first places planted for the original pilot program.

新南威尔士州的红树林山区（Mangrove Mountain）气候理想，是最初试验计划的首批种植地之一。

“Over the course of time, the competitive advantages that this area had have disappeared or been reduced through international trade, or other areas that could produce these crops more effectively, and cheaper prices,” farmer John Robb told SBS. “So, it’s put a big strain on this region, from an agricultural point of view, over the last 50 or 60 years,” he said.

“随着时间的推移，该地区的农业竞争优势逐渐消失，由于国际贸易的发展以及其它地区能够更高效低价的生产同样的农作物。”农民约翰·罗布（John Robb）告诉SBS。他说：“因此，从农业的角度来看，在过去五六十年间该地区有着很大的压力。”

Robb is a horticulturist who specializes in Camellias and has travelled the world extensively to research tea production. He is a founding member of the Australian Green Tea Pty Ltd, Austea CoOp and the AUSTEA brand.

罗布（Robb）是一位园艺家，专门研究山茶花（Camellias），他已经去过世界很多地方研究茶叶生产。他是澳大利亚绿茶有限公司（Australian Green Tea Pty Ltd）、Austea CoOp和AUSTEA品牌的创始人。

In 2004, the area caught the attention of the Japanese tea company Kunitaro, which had been searching for new land to meet a growing demand for green tea in its home country.

2004年，该地区引起了日本茶叶公司Kunitaro的注意，该公司一直在寻找新的土地以满足其本国对绿茶不断增长的需求。

“Fourteen years on, the farm is no longer just an experiment but a thriving business and a new source of pride for the community. The owners have expanded the farm to double the size of the original plantation,” writes SBS.

“十四年来，农场不再只是一个试验基地，而是成为了蓬勃发展的产业，为社区带来的新自豪感。Kunitaro将农场扩大，使原始种植园的面积扩大了一倍。” SBS写道。

The farm has established a counter-seasonal market for Japanese drinkers that coincides with the lucrative gift-giving period of Christmas and the New Year.  The five-hectare farm produces up to 20 metric tons of tea a year. Once the leaves are harvested, they go through a small-scale processing facility before shipment to Japan for further processing and packaging.

该农场为日本饮茶者建立了反季节市场，正好与圣诞节和新年的送礼期相吻合。这个占地五公顷的农场每年生产多达20吨的茶。茶叶在收获后，经过初步加工处理，然后运往日本进行进一步加工和包装。

You can now find large tea farms on the Somersby Plateau, along the NSW Central Coast, in South West Victoria and Queensland. There are also commercial plantations in Western Australia. The most southern tea plantation in the world is in Tasmania where Dry Ideas began growing tea for the Japan market in 1990.

现在，你可以在新南威尔士州中部海岸，西南维多利亚州和昆士兰州的萨默斯比高原上找到大型茶场。西澳大利亚州也有商业化茶叶种植园。世界上最南部的茶园位于塔斯马尼亚州，Dry Ideas于1990年开始为日本市场种植茶。

Robb, of AUSTEA says that if his vision comes true one day the NSW Central Coast will be covered with lush tea plantations.

AUSTEA的Robb说，如果他的设想成真，那么新南威尔士州中部海岸将有茂密的茶园。

Our ‘Southern Hemisphere’ unique terroir and production cycle, combined with Australia’s ‘clean & green’ approach gives Australian farmers the advantage, when supplying fresh products into the growing Northern Hemisphere markets, according to Robb. 

Robb说，我们 “南半球”独特的气候和生产周期，再加上澳大利亚的“清洁与绿色”生产方法，澳大利亚农民有着向不断增长的北半球市场供应新鲜产品的天然优势。

Several new initiatives have recently been put into place, including the Australian Green Tea Pty Ltd (AGTPL) a private tea trading and consultancy, which propagates tea plants specifically for plantations ins Australia.

最近已经采取了一些新措施，包括澳大利亚绿茶有限公司（AGTPL），一家私人茶叶贸易和咨询公司，开始专门为澳大利亚种植园种植茶树。

Additionally, the AGTPL is also one of the founding members of the AUSTEA Cooperative. Both the AGTPL and AUSTEA Co-op, were created to act as catalysts in the set-up, education, and development of this industry and its potential farmers; assisting farmers who are interested to make a smooth transition from other crops, into tea, he explains.

此外，AGTPL还是AUSTEA合作社的创始成员之一， AGTPL和AUSTEA合作社的创建都是为了促进茶行业和潜在茶农的建立、教育和发展。Robb解释说，就是帮助有兴趣的农民从其他农作物顺利过渡到茶。

A new branch of AUSTEA has been designed with the sole purpose of supporting and showcasing, a carefully curated collection of the best Australian teas.  A successful case is Arakai Estate, in Queensland. This award-winning artisan tea company produces green tea and black tea using Taiwanese processing methods.

AUSTEA正在设计成立一个新的分支机构，该机构的唯一目的是支持和展示，精选澳大利亚最好的茶来推广展示。一个成功的案例是昆士兰州的Arakai Estate，这家屡获殊荣的茶公司生产用中国台湾加工方法制作的绿茶和红茶。

Frank Sammut, a board member of Regional Development Australia Central Coast, told SBS he believes green tea could be a major export crop for Australian farmers one day: “China’s the biggest tea exporter, and we’ll be competing with them, but I think where we have to look at our point of difference is around that clean, green food production which Australia’s known for,” he said.

澳大利亚中部地区发展委员会成员弗兰克·萨姆特（Frank Sammut）告诉SBS，他相信绿茶有一天可能成为澳大利亚农民的主要出口作物：“中国是最大的茶出口国，我们将与他们竞争，但我认为 我们必须看到我们与众不同的地方，也就是是澳大利亚著名的清洁绿色食品生产。”他说。

（本文节选自11月《茶世界》，更多资讯请关注第454期具体内容）