Use "light" to diagnose plant health.

Imagine if we could give plants a general health check-up just like we would give people a check-up, then... Isn't that a cool thing! That's right, says the autumn cursure of the agricultural group of the Binsong Central Research Institute.
when she was a high school student, she came across "dryland agriculture" that filled her with curiosity and longing for agricultural technology.
through years of professional knowledge, finally achieved, entered the binsong company's central research institute, began to engage in agricultural-related research.
now, her team focuses on advanced agricultural technologies for the future, such as the plant health diagnosis just mentioned.
is achieved by using "light".
, who works in the 8th Laboratory of the Binsong Central Research Institute, is not so easy to break, and there is still a long way to go in terms of practicalization.
but for Akishi and her team, that's their goal.
from the plant's composition, to understand its health, plants, is the first organisms on our planet to prosper.
have been using light as a source of energy since their birth.
and through the perception of light, to understand the changes of the seasons, thus germination, flowering.
can say that plants are a "light man", and on the other way, I can use "light" to approach them and understand them.
", just as humans can't get too much salt or calories.
for plants, we don't just give them fertilizer and water, we give them the right amount of fertilizer and water.
", "The plant contains a lot of water, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals."
but at every stage of growth, the balance between these elements is constantly changing.
our team focused on changes in key components such as moisture in the hope of developing ways to presume fertilizer and the environment, such as water, light, temperature, etc., to be surplus or inadequate.
" components (material molecules) that make up a plant may have absorption or reflection properties (or specific spectral components) of light at a particular wavelength.
, by using light from different bands of light, we can understand the composition of the substance inside it.
hope to apply this method to plant diagnosis.
years, many cutting-edge technologies have been applied to agricultural production, and intelligent agriculture, crop factories and so on have appeared one after another.
fact, in the planting process, to a large extent still rely on our five senses, such as vision, touch.
, although IT technology can grasp the temperature, humidity, amount of sun and other environmental values of the growing environment, but still do not have the ability to diagnose crops.
farmers who have been farming for a long time often have some 'only satisfactory, unspeakable' crop diagnostic capabilities, which come mainly from years of intuitive judgment and experience.
, such special knowledge is difficult for future generations to pass on, let than to be expected to contribute to the current agricultural development.
Believe that by creating a knowledge system that is easy to understand and can be disseminated and shared, we can really help people grasp the state of plants correctly and accurately and gain popularity.
" into the road long, but the goal is clear from small to large, autumn grass is very interested in flowers and grasses.
my student days, I dreamed of all kinds of future, but these future are related to plants.
" initial interest in agriculture was in high school.
time, an agricultural special in arid areas was shown on television, where dryland agriculture used water-locking materials like wet urine to preserve crops.
" said, the power of technology, so that the vast desert produced a touch of green, which left a deep impression on her.
"My major in college is 'facility horticulture engineering', and I also studied plant physiology while studying."
, I also learned that some of the physiological properties of crops can help them grow if they are at their best.
" after graduation, Akishi faced the problem of taking office.
when she was busy looking for a job, photon technology met her for the first time.
: "I've heard people say that there's an interesting company that's getting ready to move into agriculture."
so I went to their on-the-job tests, so I officially met with photon technology.
to be honest, I basically didn't know anything about photon technology at the time.
, as the team leader, is leading her team in exploring methods for plant growth environmental testing and plant health diagnosis using photoelectrical sensing technology.
group of five members, in addition to botany, they also have a wide range of professional and technical background, such as genetics, physics, machinery.
members of the U.S. Team are working together to get a look at everything from basic technology research to building equipment.
the team is now breeding some of the plants around them under certain control conditions, and the whole is still in the process of collecting basic data from plant states and values from all sides, said Qiu Qiu.
is still a long way from applying in agriculture.
the use of photoelectrectrical sensing technology to diagnose plants is basically valid, but different types of plants with different growth degrees get the best values are different.
, collecting basic data on the main typical plants alone is a huge project.
"'s another goal is to develop such diagnostic devices.
our current diagnosis is to place the liquid removed from the plant in a test instrument, such as a spectrograph and a high-speed liquid chromatography.
and what we want to make is an easier-to-use handheld device.
" Akishi said, "the near-infrared light technology is being developed again, although not yet fully realized handheld devices, but in the future is very likely."
personally, I feel that our work has completed the first phase and will be successful if we move forward steadily.
" photon technology, change the future of agriculture Photon technology can bring about changes in agriculture? On this point, the heart of autumn grass is very clear.
", just as stethoscopes are the hallmarks of a doctor.
future, I hope portable plant diagnostic devices can become a symbol of farmers, become their necessities.
this is one of the goals going forward.
" this portable instrument can inform the user of the health of the plant simply by clamping the leaves or stems of the plant.
with the environmental impact factors (e.g. temperature, humidity) data, as well as relative operating conditions record of the continuous accumulation, propulsion analysis.
the instrument can also be used to propose breeding methods for different regional environments and climates, or to suggest suitable crop types.
if this information can be shared in the cloud or otherwise, it can become a "textbook" presence for farmers growing crops within regions, countries, and even around the world.
, this is the future seen in the eyes of autumn grass.
, she says, "photon technology can also enable non-destructive and non-contact detection, such as X-rays."
can develop high-speed high-sensitivity detection instruments and enable remote control analysis.
we can conduct large-scale crop growth environmental assessments using satellites or drones.
" Akishi and her team only started three years ago, and it was difficult to accumulate a wealth of experience in a short period of time.
many researchers are now involved in the application of photon technology to agriculture.
I'm new to the field, but here we are (Binsong Central Research Institute) and we can get a lot of support from our predecessors, who are experts with extensive experience in photon technology research.
" team has also been a powerful enabler for her to realize her dreams.
for autumn grass, her sources of happiness include, in addition to research, and the time she spends at home with her children at the end of each day.
has 3 children, the smaller is still in kindergarten, the older has entered the primary school.
as a mother, she cherishes every minute of being with her children.
cooks in the kitchen with his eldest son, who is good at cooking and baking, completes his manual homework with his second son, who likes origami and hand-made, and reads his favorite picture books with his youngest son.
every thing they want to do and like to do, autumn grass do not want to miss.
" may seem a little too grand.
," she says with a laugh, "but, as a researcher, contributing to solving the world's food problem is really my big goal."
as a mother, providing a future full of life and security for her children is the most real wish.
and the work I'm doing right now is moving toward both goals, so I'm really happy and fulfilled in my daily research.
" Source: Binsong China.