Tea lovers can now drink AI- assisted tea

When you take the first sip of your favourite tea, you remember the several daily labours who painstakingly pick each tea bud with their hands at dawn, which are then processed and treated to find a place into your hands. But with the advent of AI and reduced pressure on manual labour, the focus is turning to automation, accurate monitoring, and scientifically developed qualitative results. While AI has so far influenced almost every part of modern day lifestyle, it is now set to enter the tea-making process too. The Tea Board, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO and NIT Rourkela have entered a tripartite agreement to develop an AI-based monitoring system for tea plantations.

What will the AI-based tea plantation monitoring system comprise?

This research and development project called Chaayankan is a comprehensive AI-based geospatial data analytics for Tea Plantation monitoring. Under this project, hyperspectral and optical remote sensing date from satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles combined with ground-based observations, weather inputs and entomological data, will develop AI and machine-learning-based tea plantation monitoring solutions. This will help in covering the vast acres of tea plantations with aerial data input which are precise. It will also lessen the burden on ground monitoring system which at times is tedious owing to the large area of the plantations. The project will also use the data collected and map tea-growing areas and monitor biotic and abiotic stress. Moreover and very importantly it will monitor the rise of pests and diseases which often affect the tea gardens.

Why is AI- enabled tea monitoring significant?

This tripartite agreement with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, is an important step reflecting scientific development and its influence in agriculture. With this, the main aim is to resolve age-old problems faced by the tea plantations which include crops stress, pest management and yield estimation. Moreover the data collected through science and on-ground reporting, can turn into a valuable repository and statistics that could help influence future policies in a technology-driven tea sector. So, are you ready for your first flush that is scientifically approved?

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.