Aachen, Germany
14th November 2017

The National Crop Phenomics Center, located at the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Jeonju, Korea, was officially opened on Tuesday 31st October 2017. 

The core unit in the Phenomics Center is a LemnaTec Greenhouse Scanalyzer that comprises 1012 plant carriers on conveyors that move plants to imaging cabinets containing visible, near-infrared, and infrared cameras. The system also comprises weighing and watering units for irrigation control of each pot. 

Lemnatec’s Greenhouse Scanalyzer enables non-invasive day-by-day phenotyping of crop plants such as rice or soybean and is a powerful tool for phenotyping research. Plants can be characterized by their phenotypic performance according to their genetic background and imposed environmental factors.

This year, Korea's crop production has been severely damaged by prolonged dry weather conditions, threatening food security for a large part of its population. The Food and Agriculture Organization has recommended the promotion of drought-tolerant crops and varieties to increase the resilience of farmers and households to natural disasters and climate change.
 
The new Crop Phenomics Center plans to investigate Korea’s key crops such as rice and soybean for improved productivity and climate resilience. It will help to develop resource-efficient varieties that deliver adequate phenotypes for improved future agriculture.

During a colloquium associated with the opening ceremony, LemnaTec’s Chief Scientist Dr. Marcus Jansen held a scientific presentation on use cases of Scanalyzers in research and development, followed by a discussion on phenotyping technology and application cases. Dr. Jansen focused on applications for Greenhouse Scanalyzers, but presented case studies and technical developments for laboratory and field phenotyping as well as for seed germination testing and root measurements.

The opening ceremony was attended by Seung Young Ra, administrator of RDA (Rural Development Administration), Geun Yeol Yug, President of Yonam College, Ki Byung Lim, President of the Association of Deans of Agricultural Colleges and Universities and Jin Mo Lee, Director General of the National Institute of Agricultural Science.

Since 1998, LemnaTec has led the development of digital phenotyping systems. Now with more than 1,000 users across the globe, LemnaTec is the world’s most successful supplier of complete phenotyping solutions for plant research. 

Website: http://www.lemnatec.de

Published: November 14, 2017