27
F
Spect
r
al Imaging
F
A
cutting edge new tec
h
nology system t
h
at can
r
emotely
monito
r
soft f
r
uit c
r
ops fo
r
st
r
esses is beingdeveloped.
T
h
e automated imaging system canmonito
r
and
measu
r
e
h
owplants
r
espond to st
r
esses suc
h
as d
r
oug
h
t o
r
attacks by pests o
r
diseases.
Once fully developed, it is
h
oped t
h
at t
h
e systemwill not
only enable g
r
owe
r
s to constantlymonito
r
r
emotely fo
r
signs
of st
r
ess on c
r
op a
r
eas o
r
individual plants, but could even
cont
r
ol fe
r
tigation o
r
ale
r
t g
r
owe
r
s tow
h
en c
r
opp
r
otection is
needed. T
h
e p
r
oject is fundedby an InnovateUK conso
r
tium,
includingAhDBho
r
ticultu
r
e and T
h
e Jameshutton Institute.
Explaining t
h
e genetic
r
ole in plant st
r
essmanagement, and
t
h
e
r
ole imaging systems can play in t
h
is, JulieG
r
a
h
am,
geneticist andp
r
oject lead at Jameshutton Institute said:
“Plants adjust stomatal opening tomaintainwate
r
balance and
nut
r
ient uptake, cont
r
ol leaf tempe
r
atu
r
e andoptimise
p
h
otosynt
h
esis – and t
h
e bette
r
t
h
ey’
r
e able tomake t
h
at
adjustment, t
h
emo
r
e likely t
h
ey’ll be able to tole
r
ate st
r
ess.
T
h
e effects can bemonito
r
ed andmeasu
r
ed using imaging
tec
h
nologies; fo
r
example, inf
r
a-
r
ed t
h
e
r
mog
r
ap
h
y can
measu
r
e leaf tempe
r
atu
r
e, w
h
ic
h
is
r
elated to stomatal
opening and is a
r
eliable indicato
r
of plant p
h
ysiological
status.”
Ot
h
e
r
envi
r
onmental st
r
esses can induce a
r
ange of
c
h
anges in t
h
e leaf su
r
face and inte
r
nal st
r
uctu
r
e, cause
ce
r
tain compounds to accumulate o
r
lead to t
h
e b
r
eakdown
of p
h
otosynt
h
etic pigments. Some of t
h
ese c
h
anges can alte
r
t
h
e colou
r
of t
h
e leaf, impe
r
ceptible to t
h
e
h
uman eye but
detectable by an imaging tec
h
nique known as spect
r
al
r
eflectance, t
h
at can be used tomonito
r
t
h
e plant canopy to
acqui
r
e info
r
mation on alte
r
ations in t
h
e leaf bioc
h
emist
r
y.
T
h
ese ‘spect
r
al signatu
r
es’ can be analysedby compute
r
and
compa
r
edwit
h
a ‘lib
r
a
r
y’ of signatu
r
es expected f
r
om an
unst
r
essedplant o
r
one exposed to known st
r
esses.
Scott raffle, KnowledgeExc
h
angeManage
r
at AhDB
ho
r
ticultu
r
e, said: “T
h
is p
r
oject is pa
r
ticula
r
ly exciting as,
t
hr
oug
h
t
h
e use of tec
h
nology suc
h
as inf
r
a-
r
ed t
h
e
r
mog
r
ap
h
y
and spect
r
al
r
eflectance imaging, we expect tobe able to
monito
r
c
h
anges in s
h
oot and leaf p
h
ysiology, to give an
indi
r
ect indicato
r
of
r
oot st
r
esses. Poo
r
soil conditions, va
r
iable
availability of wate
r
, and attack by
r
oot-
r
ot pat
h
ogens o
r
r
oot-
feedingpests suc
h
as vineweevil la
r
vae, can all st
r
ess t
h
e
r
oots of c
r
ops suc
h
as
r
aspbe
rr
y.We
h
ope, in t
h
e futu
r
e, t
h
at
t
h
is systemwill p
r
ovide g
r
owe
r
swit
h
t
h
e tec
h
nology to
r
espond to t
h
ese c
h
allengesmo
r
e efficiently t
h
an bywalking
t
h
ei
r
g
r
owing a
r
eas tomonito
r
plant st
r
esses.”
T
h
e system
h
as p
r
ima
r
ily been conceived as a tool to
h
elp
soft f
r
uit b
r
eede
r
s select plants t
h
at a
r
e
r
esistant to st
r
esses
suc
h
as d
r
oug
h
t o
r
attacks by pests o
r
diseases. T
h
e
equipment will p
r
ovide ameans of not only assessing t
h
e
st
r
ess
r
esponses of la
r
ge numbe
r
s of b
r
eeding lines ve
r
y
quickly, it will also give some objectivemeasu
r
e of t
h
ei
r
st
r
ess
r
esistance. D
r
LouiseSut
h
e
r
land, C
h
ai
r
of t
h
eSoft F
r
uit Panel,
AhDBho
r
ticultu
r
e said: “New
r
esilient va
r
ieties of soft f
r
uit
c
r
ops t
h
at need less fe
r
tigation and a
r
emo
r
e
r
esistant to
pests anddiseases a
r
e c
r
ucial fo
r
t
h
e indust
r
y, w
h
ic
h
faces
inc
r
easingp
r
essu
r
e on t
h
e availability of wate
r
, a
r
eduction in
t
h
e a
r
mou
r
y of c
r
opp
r
otection p
r
oducts and
h
ig
h
e
r
fe
r
tilise
r
costs, and so tec
h
nological advancements t
h
at can
h
elp soft
f
r
uit g
r
owe
r
s to combat t
h
ese p
r
essu
r
es a
r
e c
r
ucial.”
An additional p
r
oject t
h
at will develop ea
r
ly detection of
st
r
ess, specifically in st
r
awbe
rr
y plants, using
h
ype
r
spect
r
al
image analysis, is being
r
un by aP
h
DStudents
h
ipp
r
og
r
amme
fundedby AhDBho
r
ticultu
r
e.
◆
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •
MArCh 2017
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
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Photo imaging system drives innovation in crop stress detection
