A research paper on "Phenotypic analysis of germination time of individual seeds affected by microenvironment and management factors for cohort research in plant factory" conducted by Eri Hayashi, vice president of the JPFA, Yumiko Amagai, a project researcher at Chiba University, Toru Maruo, a professor at the university, and Toyoki Kozai, JPFA honorary president and former president of the Chiba University.
It is the fruit of research the JPFA did mainly in a fiscal 2017-fiscal 2018 project of Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization and is part of plant cohort research.
The paper concerns a system that can estimate germination time for each seed of individual plants and analyze the effects of the microenvironment around the seed and management factors on its germination time.
The system uses two-dimensional cameras and their images and automatically monitors the microenvironment around each seed. Since germination affects the growth of the whole plant, it is a critical stage in the overall plant growth process. The paper is expected to provide a spur to further research to examine the seedling and growing stages.
JPFA President Toshitaka Yamaguchi says that "our research and development bearing fruit in the form of an academic paper encourages us to advertise our R&D activities and allows us to keep on doing R&D and will have a positive impact on our other projects."
"While we are a small organization, we aim to achieve a great outcome with everyone pulling together in a big team effort," he says.
Hayashi says that "this designed system emphasizes practicality in commercial cultivation and breeding in plant factories. I hope this modular plant phenotype measurement system advances commercial plant production and breeding in plant factories".
Click here to access the paper.