The Evolution of Tea Harvesting: A Comprehensive Review of Machinery and Technological Advancements

Tea harvesting is a critical stage in the production of high-quality tea, and advancements in machinery and technology have had a significant impact on this process. The conventional manual plucking method for selecting good quality tea buds has faced several challenges, primarily due to labour shortages and rising wages. As a result, the search for mechanical alternatives has been ongoing for the past few decades. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of tea harvesting, with a specific focus on the machinery and technological advancements that have shaped the tea industry.

In this review, both manual and mechanical tea-plucking methods are comprehensively examined. The evolution of tea machinery, starting from simple clippers to advanced computer vision-based automatic selective tea harvesters (intelligent pluckers), is discussed. Furthermore, this review provides a guide for further improvements in intelligent pluckers.

This review paper presents a comprehensive classification of tea-plucking machinery. It examines the evolution of tea plucking and identifies four generations of machinery. The advantages and challenges associated with each type of tea-plucking machinery are thoroughly discussed.

Despite the introduction of a few mechanical selective pluckers, their usage is not yet widespread. However, recent rapid technological advancements have created new prospects for the development of intelligent tea pluckers. Currently in the evolving stage, these intelligent pluckers face several challenges concerning plucking efficiency and accuracy. If their design proves suitable for both flat and hilly terrains while remaining affordable for all, there is potential for this intelligent plucking machinery to potentially replace manual plucking in the future.