Jim Stevens, Phillip Davey, Piotr Kasznicki, Tanja A Hofmann, Tracy Lawson
Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) delivers increased crop production per unit land, contributing to resilient food systems amidst challenges of climate change, population growth and urbanization. However, high energy costs and the associated carbon footprint for using LED lighting imposes substantial barriers to the widespread adoption of CEA. While light is indispensable for growth, critically its utilization by crops throughout the photoperiod remains sub-optimal, reducing photosynthetic efficiency and wasting energy. Here we have developed and demonstrated a novel real-time plant bio-feedback system that enables crops to directly ‘communicate’ optimal lighting requirements. Continuous non-invasive monitoring of photochemistry elicited decreased demand for light by basil at the end of the photoperiod, which, delivered by our system, improved yield per unit power. Specifically, our innovative approach increased yield by 13.5% and reduced energy consumption per unit fresh mass by 6.2%, delivering a 17% decrease in CO 2 required to generate fresh mass yield . Application of this technique at scale can significantly improve resource management of CEA, supporting the productivity, profitability and sustainability of this food industry.