CPCRI in Kasaragod, Kerala has partnered with ISRO’s Regional Earth Remote Sensing Center in Bengaluru and ISRO’s Aeronautical Services and Digital Mapping Division in Hyderabad to complete the project. | Photo credit: File photo
The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have launched a joint pilot project to develop a methodology to calculate the area under coconut and assess the extent of yellow leaf disease (YLD) in arecanut plantations.
CPCRI in Kasaragod, Kerala has partnered with ISRO’s Regional Earth Remote Sensing Center in Bengaluru and ISRO’s Aeronautical Services and Digital Mapping Division in Hyderabad to complete the project.
For the coconut sector, CPCRI Director K. Balachandra Hebbar told The Hindu: “We have data on the area under coconut. Ground verification of this will have to be done by working out the pilot project methodology. This part of the project study is yet to take off.”
On the YLD component, Mr. Hebbar said the study, which has started in Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada, will be carried out in both YLD-affected and non-YLD areas. Once developed, the methodology will help use remote sensing technology to study whether and to what extent YLD is spreading in arecanut plantations.
Mr. Hebbar said that since the project is a pilot project, not all areas under coconut and areas affected by YLD arecanut will be assessed now. Studies will be conducted in designated areas.
Meanwhile, Captain Brijesh Chowta, Member of Parliament, Dakshina Kannada, said in a statement that a drone survey has been launched in Aranthodu and Peraje villages of Sullia Taluk covering an area of 2.5 sq km, related to the YLD component.
Captain Chowta said a delegation of ministers and Lok Sabha members from Karnataka met Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Delhi in August 2025 and discussed the problems faced by arecanut farmers in the state. They also requested funds for research into arecanut diseases and briefed the minister on the problems faced by arecanut growers whose plantations were affected by YLD and leaf spot. The delegation further demanded that a comprehensive scientific study be conducted and remedial measures be provided related to arecanut diseases.
Published – 16 Nov 2025 19:18 IST
