Atlantis Environment & Innovation have commenced work on project PHENOTYPOS (“A whole plant phenotyping platform to improve plant productivity, agricultural sustainability and resilience to climate change”), which aims to create a state- of-the-art research facility to provide plant phenotyping services and research to Cypriot and international users.
The need for such phenotyping infrastructure is well recognised in plant breeding and arises from questions whether current plant germplasm is the most suited to the Mediterranean agriculture and the threats it faces from climate change, specifically biotic and abiotic stresses. Much progress has been made in agricultural science, supported by significant progress is biotechnology, cell and molecular biology, plant physiology and systems biology. Despite progress, the assessment of plant performance remains the main bottle neck to crop improvement. PHENOTYPOS aims precisely to address this bottleneck by providing an effective and efficient method to improve crop selection.
The infrastructure is unique not only to Cyprus but within the Mediterranean as well and will fill a significant gap in plant screening capabilities. Through better screening, better plant selection will be facilitated, thus leading to improve yields, crop quality and crop resilience. Ultimately, these outcomes will contribute to food security, more robust agriculture economic and sustained environmental benefits.
The project has reached its sixth month and already much progress has been achieved. The research team has defined user needs, developed detailed infrastructure specifications and plans, and proceeded with the development and purchase of an assortment of PHENOTYPOS infrastructure and equipment.
Upon completion, the project will constitute a state-of-the-art phenotyping facility consisting of a high tec greenhouse, an integrated array of sensors and controllers that monitor plant water use and growth, an advanced autonomous robotic plant imaging system and deep/machine learning analysis and growth forecasting modules. To collect, integrate and analyse the large amounts of data that PHENOTYPOS will collect, the project will also create a data collection and management system to perform data visualizations and advanced statistical analyses.
PHENOTYPOS is coordinated by the University of Cyprus and implemented together with the Ministry of Agriculture, rural development and environment – Agricultural Research Institute, Frederic Research Center, Cyprus University of Technology, and the companies CY.R.I.C. Cyprus Research and Innovation Center, ALION Vegetable and fruit Co and ATLANTIS Environment & Innovation.
The project PHENOTYPOS (STRATEGIC INFRASTRUCTURES/1221/0200) is implemented under the programme of social cohesion “THALIA 2021-2027” co-funded by the European Union, through the Research and Innovation Foundation. The project has a total budget of 2.22 million Euro.
For more information contact: Charalambos Panayiotou c.panayiotou@atlantis-consulting.eu