Tea Research Association launches TocklAI, the world's first AI model for tea

Guwahati: The Tea Research Association (TRA) launched TocklAI, the world's first artificial intelligence model project built for the tea industry, at its 62nd Annual General Meeting at the Tollygunge Club, Kolkata.

Pabitra Margherita, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles, Government of India attended the event. The meeting was held in the presence of C. Murugan, Deputy Chairman & CEO, Tea Board of India, and K. J. Patel, Managing Director, IFFCO. IFFCO also launched its nano fertilisers for tea at the meeting.

TocklAI draws on the research of TRA's Tocklai Tea Research Institute in Jorhat, Assam — the world's oldest and largest tea research station, now 115 years old. It is a small language model that uses retrieval-augmented generation: it answers from TRA's own verified research archive rather than general internet content, so its advice stays grounded in tested tea science and Indian growing conditions.


Planters, managers and small growers can ask it practical questions on pest and disease control, soil health and nutrition, choice of clones, replanting, climate adaptation, processing and food-safety compliance.

TocklAI was conceived by Joydeep Phukan, Secretary of TRA, who leads the project, bringing together Tocklai's scientists, the Tea Board of India and Dr Vishal Misra of Columbia University.

TRA's Council of Management approved the project on 24 July 2026."TRA Tocklai holds a century of data that no one else in the world has," said Suneel Singh Sikand, Chairman, Tea Research Association. "With TocklAI, that knowledge becomes a tool every planter and small grower can use. It is the first of its kind in the global tea industry, and we are proud that it comes from India."

"Small tea growers now produce more than half of India's tea, yet they have the least access to research," said Phukan. "TocklAI is designed to close that gap, and it will keep growing as our scientists add new findings. We have already digitised more than 2,000 scientific publications, and the work will be completed in 18 months."

Margherita said Assam is proud to be home to Tocklai, the world's oldest and largest tea research establishment, whose work has helped Northeast India nearly triple its tea output since 1951. Welcoming TocklAI, he said: "What could be more appropriate for an institution with 115 years of research behind it than to embrace one of the defining technologies of our time." He pointed to CHAAYANKAN, Tea Board India's new AI-based geospatial project with ISRO's National Remote Sensing Centre and NIT Rourkela to monitor plantations, forecast pests and diseases and estimate yields, as part of the same spirit of innovation. This, he said, reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis that India's future competitiveness depends on generating knowledge, adopting new technologies and turning research into outcomes. He noted the Government of Assam's support, including Rs 10 crore for Tocklai and Rs 17 crore for the Small Tea Growers' Cell.

He urged the industry to develop youth-friendly tea products and take Indian tea to higher-value global markets, with stronger traceability and compliance. "Tocklai has given 115 years to Indian tea. Our responsibility now is to ensure that the next century is equally remarkable," he said.

Sikand said exports rose to about 270 million kg worth over Rs 8,300 crore in 2025-26, but fell about 16 per cent in January–July 2026, hit by the West Asia conflict and shipping disruption.

He called compliance the defining issue for Indian tea. FSSAI MRLs for Acetamiprid and Imidacloprid, both approved for use in tea, are still pending, and the EU's new neonicotinoid rules have begun to affect shipments to Europe. TRA and the UK Tea & Infusions Association formed a Joint Working Group on 30 April 2026, joined by tea associations from Europe, the USA and Canada, to share regulatory intelligence.

Looking ahead, he warned that beyond 2037 India's production may not meet domestic consumption, citing a TRA study based on Tea Board data. He called for a national push on uprooting and replanting, backed by regenerative soil practices.

TRA released a climate-resilient clone, TV 36, which showed the least effect of climatic variation during breeding while retaining good yield potential.IFFCO launched Nano Urea Plus and Nano DAP for the tea industry. Four years of joint trials by TRA and IFFCO showed yield gains of 8–14 per cent, and both products will now enter TRA's Package of Practices.

A TRA study funded by the Tea Board through NTRF identified 397 flavour compounds that separate Darjeeling tea from seven other origins, including Nepal, giving a scientific basis for GI protection.

The FAO has entrusted TRA with a global framework on climate change and tea, towards a net-zero tea sector. TRA has proposed science centres in Assam and West Bengal to help small growers uproot and replant.