Jülich Plant Science Seminars - Svend Christainsen - "Save the date!" - Universität Copenhagen – 6th of July 2026
Title: Robotic Intercropping: Monitoring and Managing Plant–Plant Interactions to Reenable Diversified Cropping Systems
Speaker: Svend Christainsen
Affiliation: Universität Copenhagen
Abstract:
Diversified cropping systems such as intercropping, living mulches and strip cropping have long been known to improve resource use, soil cover, biodiversity and resilience. Yet, their adoption in modern European agriculture has remained limited because they are difficult to manage with machinery designed for uniform monocultures. The Robotic Intercropping project addresses this challenge by co-developing intercropping systems and autonomous robotic technologies.
The central idea is that robots should not simply be adapted to existing cropping systems. Instead, cropping systems and robots must be designed together. Drones and lightweight autonomous platforms equipped with RGB, LiDAR, multispectral and potentially hyperspectral sensors can provide high-resolution, repeated observations of crop canopies, service crops and weeds. These data can be used to quantify plant–plant interactions, detect emerging competition for light, water and nutrients, and support digital twins that predict when and where interventions are needed.
The talk will present the scientific rationale and experimental approach of Robotic Intercropping, with particular focus on how robotic sensing and precision interventions can enable the management of complex plant communities. Examples include monitoring canopy architecture, interspecific competition and weed dynamics, and using targeted cutting or mechanical interventions to maintain the benefits of service crops without compromising cash crop yield.
Finally, the talk will discuss opportunities for collaboration with Forschungszentrum Jülich, especially around non-invasive plant phenotyping, multi-sensor data integration and longterm datasets for complex cropping systems. The broader perspective is that robotics may allow us to reintroduce agronomically old but ecologically advanced cropping principles into modern agriculture
Svend Christensen,
Professor of Crop Science and Technologies
Coordinator of the Robotic Intercropping Partnership
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
University of Copenhagen