Bioeconomy at the Hannover Messe

To feed a rapidly growing world population, agriculture needs resilient plants. Digital and automated technologies are driving plant research forward enormously. Researchers from Forschungszentrum Juelich demonstrated how drones can help at the Hannover Messe at the "Bioeconomy Showcase," the joint stand of the German Federal Ministry of Research and the German Federal State Ministry for the Bioeconomy.

But how does it work? Flying drones use their sensors in conjunction with smartphones to collect data on the condition of plants. They register temperature, leaf area or water potential. From this, the health status of the plants and responsible stress factors can be derived. The Jülich researchers are part of the "German Plant Phenotyping Network" funded by the BMBF. In addition to drones, magnetic resonance tomographs are also used here, which are used to examine root structures. With this collected data, the researchers can find plants that better tolerate new environmental influences such as drought and dryness, but also heavy rain.