OptiBiomass: when anti-COVID research and Artificial Intelligence meet
Since 2017, the OptiBiomass project has been looking at molecules of interest for the pharmaceutical and parapharmaceutical sector. Hemp, euphorbia, pelargonium and echinacea were successively studied in order to extract the most efficient active ingredients. In the context of COVID, the research was reoriented in 2020 towards the study of mugwort, a plant with anti-malarial and anti-viral properties. This agronomic project with added medical value has just been joined by artificial intelligence: a highly innovative robot has been installed in the mugwort crops of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech ULiège. Agriculture 4.0 is intended to be at the service of man and life.
T
hat is the principle behind this "Smart Agriculture"? A robot, supplemented by two hyperspectral cameras and coupled with software, moves through the crops. "This is what makes this installation innovative compared to existing robotics-assisted crops: before, the plants moved in front of a robot; now, the robot-camera-software trio moves among the crops. This type of versatile and mobile system no longer disturbs the plants. In addition, the robot can not only find its way through tight spaces, but is also able to collect information that is not yet visible to the naked eye. It can, for example, quickly detect
It can, for example, quickly identify whether the plant lacks water and particular nutrients or estimate whether it has reached the required degree of maturity before harvesting," explains Prof. Haïssam Jijakli, coordinator of the OptiBiomass project at the C-RAU (Centre de Recherches en Agriculture Urbaine), at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech ULiège.
Meeting the optimal conditions
The study is neither in the open field nor in the ground, but in containers and above ground. Among other advantages, the container provides an environment where various parameters such as light, relative humidity, irrigation, etc. can be controlled, thus placing the crops in a context of optimal yield from the outset. In addition, the container offers the opportunity to grow these high value-added plants en masse and in a limited space. Finally, the hydroponic cultivation that is practised there requires little water. Once all these optimal conditions are met and applied, the robot operates. This system is called a 'robotic phenotyping platform'.
phenotyping platform'.
From scientists to producers
Currently at the premium level and in the hands of R&D, this technology will help identify efficient cultivation protocols. These will then be sent to farmers, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas. These producers could therefore make the most of unused spaces in the city or on the outskirts, or even consider growing crops where this would have been unlikely (polluted soils, industrial wasteland, etc.). This is a way of reappropriating space as accurately as possible, but also of rethinking one's profession. This with the certainty of producing plants according to proven protocols, and with the aim of increasing productivity in the long term.
The OptiBiomass project containers in a few figures
- About ten employees on site
- 2 containers to house the above-ground crops
- 16-axis robot, associated with 2 hyperspectral cameras
- 70 m2 of vertical indoor cultivation surface
- 6550 seeds used
- 5500 plants grown in hydroponics
- 120 kg of fresh plant biomass (i.e. all organic matter of plant origin) produced for all the plant varieties studied
- 4TB of imaging data processed per camera/day
- 1440 data collected/24 h for 16 variables per container. This represents 46,080 environmental data collected each day
More about mugwort
Annual mugwort or Chinese wormwood (Artemisia annua) has been used in traditional medicine for over 2000 years for the treatment of fevers, malaria and respiratory tract infections. The plant is rich in essential oils, polysaccharides, saponins, coumarins, acids, minerals, flavonoids and polyphenols. Some essential oil compounds such as alpha-pinene, eucalyptol and limonene are also very present, known for their antiseptic properties and their ability to reduce parasitemia. Mugwort leaves contain active substances that are effective in a wide range of antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, insect repellent and antimalarial actions. Mugwort also has anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and potentially anti-COVID19 properties.
About the OptiBiomass project
The OptiBiomass project is part of a large institutional research programme called Tropical Plant Factory, initiated by Prof. Eric Haubruge at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech ULiège. This entire portfolio of European projects has the financial arm En Mieux 2017-2021 (ERDF-Wallonie).
Since 2017, OptiBiomass research has been coordinated by Prof. Haïssam Jijakli, founder of the C-RAU (Centre de Recherches en Agriculture Urbaine), at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech ULiège. The agronomic aspect of OptiBiomass is under the responsibility of Dr Françoise Bafort; the mechatronic aspect, under that of physicist Jean-Jacques Lemaire, with the support of the March SME MachineSight (integrator of special machines). In all - from project managers to technicians to researchers - the team behind the OptiBiomass project is made up of around ten people.
