Crop hot spot

Thermal imaging of plants could be used to help crop growers save valuable water in an increasingly water-scarce world.

Lancaster University is leading moves to develop a state-of-the-art irrigation system, which lets growers know when their plants are thirsty, thanks to a £1.49 million project funded by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Horticultural Development Council and industrial partners.

As plants become too dry they begin to show signs of stress and warm up. This warming shows up as distinct warm spots on a leaf viewed with a thermal imaging camera.

Conventional and thermal camera imaging systems on an irrigation boom would be passed over the crops at regular intervals collecting information about how much water each plant needed. This information would be fed into an automated irrigation system which would then robotically deliver a precise, targeted amount water to each plant, according to demand.

This could have a profound impact on horticulture and some types of agriculture, making more efficient use of limited water supply, reducing crop variability and waste and thereby saving growers money.