PATHANAMTHITTA: The future of Kerala’s farms may depend less on finding more farmers than on finding a better way to manage them. With thousands of young people working abroad and an ageing population unable to cultivate their land, vast stretches of fertile farmland have gone fallow across the state.
Seeking to change that narrative, an initiative that uses artificial intelligence, drones and digital management systems to keep farms productive has taken shape in Ranni, Pathanamthitta.
The inauguration on Monday of Kerala’s first RADTAR (Rural Agricultural Development Technology and Research) Village Hub, an AI-enabled agricultural service centre, marks a shift from conventional farming to technology-led, market-oriented agriculture, according to the promoters.
The hub, developed by RADTAR Innovations with technical support from ICAR-KVK CARD Pathanamthitta, aims to make farming more sustainable, commercially viable and professionally managed.
According to Joice P Mathew, founder and CEO of RADTAR Innovations, Kerala’s agriculture sector can no longer rely solely on traditional cultivation practices.
“The time has come to transform agriculture from a conventional activity into a technology-driven commercial enterprise. The Village Hub is intended to improve farmers’ incomes, bring unused farmland back into cultivation, support NRIs and senior citizens who cannot directly supervise their land, and create entrepreneurship opportunities for rural youth,” he said.
The initiative seeks to address several long-standing challenges confronting Kerala agriculture – including the absence of a steady supply of quality raw materials for value-added products, thousands of acres of uncultivated farmland owned by NRIs and absentee landowners, lack of professional farm management, and limited access to scientific advisory and marketing support for small farmers.
Monitoring from abroad
One of the hub’s key offerings is RADTAR GREENS, a digital platform through which landowners can monitor their farms remotely from anywhere in the world. The platform provides real-time updates on crop progress, daily operations, expenditure, photographs and field reports, allowing owners to stay connected with their farms without being physically present.
The hub also offers rapid soil testing backed by expert recommendations, AI-driven digital farm monitoring, GPS mapping for precise planning, and drone-based surveillance that enables farmers to monitor crop health at different stages of cultivation. It also aims to improve market access through crop planning and value-chain development.
Beyond technology, the project also seeks to create a rural service ecosystem. Farmer producer organisations (FPOs), startups, cooperative institutions, educational institutions and young entrepreneurs will be encouraged to establish similar Village Hubs, generating skilled employment while expanding professional agricultural services across rural Kerala.
With the vision of “One Village, One Hub, One Integrated Agricultural Ecosystem”, RADTAR Innovations plans to replicate the model across the state in phases, positioning village-level technology centres as the backbone of a more resilient and profitable agricultural economy.
Sustainable farming
The hub, developed by RADTAR Innovations with technical support from ICAR-KVK CARD Pathanamthitta, aims to make farming more sustainable, commercially viable and professionally managed
RADTAR (Rural Agricultural Development Technology and Research) Village Hub is an AI-enabled agricultural service centre, that marks a shift from conventional farming to technology-led, market-oriented agriculture, according to the promoters.
