The results from this research support the general
conclusion that introduction of cellulose degrading
bacterial (CDB) inoculants is a beneficial microbiological
tool to aid recovery of energy from degraded ecosystems
during pruning in tea plantation. In this study, the efficient
five strains (CDB1, CDB7, CDB 12, CDB13 and CDB21)
produced higher amount of cellulase enzyme actively
among 25 strains isolated. All five CDB strains have
relevance to shade grow eco-friendly tea in many ways.
The vast amount of biomass on the floor of the tea plants
can be recycled by microbes not only to conserve energy,
but also to minimize biomass pollution, fungal disease
and improve the organic matter in soil. In addition, these
CDB strains are well adjusted in both acidic and alkaline
pH and in the temperature range of 20 to 40°C. From this
study, we clearly understood that these five strains will
adopt themselves to various environmental conditions for
maximum cellulose production. However, the effect of the
cellulase activity was included in this study, that is, these
five cellulose decomposers break down large organic
molecules into smaller molecules that can be used by the
biotic community. This in turn will lead to efficient use of
renewable conventional resources inside the tea through
microbiological processes rather than non renewable
conventional sources. Consequently, this will open a new
path of progressive thought, where tea planters will
depend either less on synthetic fertilizers and chemicals
and use both under integrated management approach of
nutrient to increase tea productivity.