Reviving an 18th Century Dream of Swedish-Grown Tea. Examining the possibilities of growing tea, Camellia sinensis, in Sweden based on climatic crop requirements using GIS

Abstract: Tea, Camellia sinensis, is one of the oldest tree crops in the world and has been cultivated for its leaves for thousands of years. It is a long-lived, evergreen perennial that grows well in warm and humid climates with high amounts of precipitation evenly spread throughout the year. In Europe, tea cultivation has a much shorter history, reaching back to the second half of the 18th century. It was around this time that the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus began his attempts at growing tea in Uppsala, with one plant managing to survive the Swedish conditions for 18 years, but the attempts could be said to have been unsuccessful. In modern times, there have been at least four new attempts, which are still on-going, to grow tea in different regions of Sweden. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibilities of growing tea in Sweden based on climatic crop requirements connected to temperature and precipitation, with the goal of answering two questions. Is it possible to grow tea in Sweden and if so, where in the country? The study was conducted using R to evaluate the study area for the criteria derived from the climatic crop requirements. The results were used to conduct a land suitability evaluation to divide the study area into four classes (highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable and unsuitable) based on a point system derived from how suitable the area would be for growing tea based on each criterion. The theoretical result of the study was complemented by interviewing Swedish tea growers to showcase the practical experiences of those growing tea in Swedish conditions. The conclusion of the study was that it is possible to grow tea in Sweden, with the most suitable regions being areas close to the west coast and the north-western parts of Skåne.