Texas A&M AgriLife Unveils Plans For A Robotic Greenhouse Facility
COLLEGE STATION, TX – Texas A&M University’s Texas A&M AgriLife unveiled plans in May for a multi-million-dollar Automated Precision Phenotyping Greenhouse that will utilize advanced sensor technology to enhance agricultural crops in the areas of crop health, yield, nutrition, temperature, drought stress, and other environmental conditions.
The project, expected for completion by summer 2020, is being led by AgriLife Research and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Both AgriLife Research scientists and faculty will use the facility for experimental trials as well as a teaching platform for undergraduate and graduate students.
Two 2,400-square-foot greenhouses for physicists, biochemists, and engineers will work alongside a 3,813-square-foot headhouse with field scientists working in soil, plant, microbe, insect, and other disciplines.
The facility is funded by the Chancellor’s Research Initiative Award and matched by the Governor’s University Research Initiative Award. Additional robotic equipment is funded by a Research Development Fund Award. The facility has a construction budget estimated at $3.5 million.