"This is 12-month project will see a UK SME, two Universities and a UK academic organisation undertake the development of a unique, low-cost high performance optical sensor that allows the analysis of the spectrum of light reflected by plants and soils in order that chemical and physical properties be better understood and aid the improvement of crop and soil health as part of the optimisation of the food supply chain process. This highly cost effective and robust smart 'micro-spectrometer' represents a step-change in the way the properties of light are used to understand and optimise agricultural and food production processes with resulting efficiency improvement and substantial benefits in terms of food security and environmental protection."

Awaiting Public Project Summary

Mixed-colour LED lights have the potential to revolutionise horticulture by supplementing natural sunlight to extend growing seasons, increase crop quality and nutritional content and control the time taken for plants to become ready for harvest. Recent advances in LED technology has led to a wide range of LED luminaires becoming available, however, barriers exist to their use due to high capital expenditure, difficulties in matching lighting configuration to growth environment and the complexities of adjusting light intensity and wavelength to the conditions required to evoke desirable crop responses. In this project, two UK SMEs and one University will build, demonstrate and evaluate a state-of-the-art intelligent LED lighting system that continuously measures light spectra in crop canopies and automatically adjusts artificial lighting levels to achieve optimised lighting conditions for improved plant propagation automatically. Fertigation and environmental parameters will be used to complement lighting measurements which together with web-based data sharing and analytics, will realise a powerful tool that will enable growers to leverage the benefits of LED lighting at lower cost and with increased energy efficiency compared to current LED lighting solutions.

The global human population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach 8.4 billion by mid-2030. This rise will see demands on food and the resources needed to grow food increase dramatically. The use of hydroponic growth techniques (growing plants in artificial substrates that replace soil) dramatically improves the yields and efficiency of commercial horticulture and as such, hydroponics is seen as a key part of the solution to securing future worldwide food supplies. Experior Micro Technologies Ltd, together with the University of Derby and Biotecture Ltd, a UK supplier of advanced hydroponic growth systems will investigate a novel radio-frequency sensor that will closely monitor the water and fertiliser available to the roots of plants growing in hydroponic environments and enable the optimisation of growth conditions to improve plant yield while reducing the use of natural resources. If successful, the study will provide the basis for a commercially viable technology that will improve the performance of hydroponic growth in order to fulfil future global needs for plants and food.