Our CAPITALISE partner, the University of Essex, opened a new cutting-edge growth facility in May to support research on increasing plant productivity and providing sustainable crop production in the face of climate change.
The Smart Technology Experimental Plant Suite (STEPS) is a unique £3.5m facility that boasts a cutting-edge commercially standard vertical farm, an indoor field that replicates real environments anywhere on the globe, and suites that imitate a warming world – with researchers able to raise CO2 concentration and temperature levels at will. Computer plant scanning technology will also be used to monitor plants as they grow – and pinpoint precise changes in photosynthesis. Additionally, phenotyping capabilities will enable plant performance to be monitoring in real-time under dynamic growth conditions such as those experience in the field. The dual climate changes will enable Essex researchers to grow and select plants for tomorrow’s atmosphere today.
The new development is part of the Essex Plant Innovation Centre (EPIC) that brings together the research skills, expertise and technologies from the School of Life Science, the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE), our Institute for Analytics and Data Science (IADS) and the Essex Business School (EBS), to address the extreme challenges facing the agricultural and horticultural sectors globally.
STEPS has also provided the opportunity to extend the existing expertise and facilities in plant phenotyping with the inclusion of a Planteye 3D scanner (funding via BBSRC Alert Bid) capable of high-throughout monitoring of plant growth and physiology. The dynamic XYZ robotic plant phenotyping gantry system is housed within the dynamic field, and includes thermal, chlorophyll fluorescence, RGB and hyperspectral cameras, leading the way in UK phenotyping. Importantly STEPS also grants an unparalleled opportunity for Essex Research students and undergraduates to gain the relevant and up-to-date employability and transferrable skills within a skills-shortage sector.
STEPS is a flagship growth facility with cutting-edge technology. Included within STEPS are:
- A commercially standard vertical farm,
- An indoor field that replicates real environments anywhere on the globe,
- Future climate suites that imitate a warming world – with control of CO2 concentration and temperature
- A ‘crop per drop’ irrigation room for future water that will precisely control water supply and monitor crop water use.
Phenotyping in STEPS
STEPS is also home to several state-of-the-art phenotyping capabilities including;
- PlantEye F600 – a multispectral 3D scanner for non-destructive growth measurements and high-throughput scanning of morphological and spectral parameters
- DynSCREEN – includes a XYZ robotic system for scanning the indoor field for the following:
Hyperspectral (400-2500 nm)
Thermal imaging
Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging
RGB digital colour
This facility support Essex’s research efforts to ensure food security through our research in improving plant productivity and the fight against climate change to create crops for tomorrow’s climate today .
https://www.essex.ac.uk/departments/life-sciences/research/plant-productivity-group
https://www.essex.ac.uk/centres-and-institutes/essex-plant-innovation
