Sri Lanka forestry company uses RFID technology to track tree health

When plantations manage the trees they grow for commercial use, the workforce is dedicated to the planting, care and harvesting of individual trees. However, for large operations, the management of data associated with each tree can be a tedious and labor-intensive task.With this in mind, Sadaharitha plantation Ltd. (SPL) deployed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology that tracks the identity of each tree and correlates it with its area-based location, so that data on each tree in the plantation can be automatically collected, updated and managed throughout its lifecycle.

The solution is currently deployed at one plantation, with plans to expand to all locations in the future. The technology includes rugged passive UHF RFID tags mounted on trees, handheld readers operated by maintenance staff, and software to manage the data collected.

Tracking trees is a challenging task, and the company uses a variety of methods to ensure that all trees are uniquely identified.