New research station to be set up in Idukki to ensure productivity in plantation sector

By The Hindu Staff

1 hour ago 8 views

New research station to be set up in Idukki to ensure productivity in plantation sector — Photo credit: The Hindu

A tea plantation in Idukki (Image for representation). | Photo Credit: Sandeep Vellaram

A new research station is being set up at the Government Engineering College, Idukki, to boost productivity across the plantation sector. According to officials, the State government has given approval to establish the facility, which aims to leverage innovative technology to revive a sector grappling with multiple crises.

Principal Manju Manuel, Philumon Joseph, and R. Sreekumar from the college serve as the principal investigators for the initiative, titled “Affordable Automation Technologies to Improve Productivity in the Plantation Sector.”

Primary objective

According to college authorities, the primary objective of the initiative is to deploy technology to address critical challenges faced by the plantation industry, including acute labour shortages, high production costs, rugged hilly terrain, and climate change. By integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and drone systems, the centre will develop cost-effective automation tools tailored for plantation crops. The project encompasses the design and field-testing of smart irrigation networks, robotic harvesters, and drone-assisted pest management solutions.

Originally published by The Hindu on Oct 18, 2026 Read the full article at thehindu.com

Read original

About this page. The Ditible is an aggregator. This article was imported from a publisher feed and may have been reformatted. Copyright remains with the original publisher, and the headline, image and any quoted text are used for attribution and indexing purposes. Source links are preserved on every item in the archive.