TRA Launches Pesticide Detection Kit for Tea Leaves

Kolkata, Jul 15 (PTI) Tea Research Association (TRA), a body set up for scientific development of the industry, said on Monday that an equipment has been devised for the detection of unapproved pesticides in green leaves.

TRA secretary and principal officer Joydeep Phukan said that the testing kit will help growers comply with the norms of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which are in force.

The rapid testing kit, ACLIVIA for Tea, is an innovative tool using the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), that will facilitate instant tests of green leaves at the factory point before they are sent for manufacturing.

The association has partnered with Arogyam Medisoft, a startup incubated in West Bengal, CDAC and Luxmi Tea to validate the equipment, he said.

Phukan said there had been a persistent demand from the tea industry for development of a device to detect unapproved pesticides to ensure compliance with the plant protection measures.