Netherlands Plant Eco-phenotyping Centre (NPEC)
NPEC facilitates state-of-the-art measurement of plant phenotypes to support research on genotype-phenotype associations. Establishing these associations is critical for the development of novel climate-proof crops and cropping systems. These novel crops and systems are necessary to secure our future high-quality food production, and improve the ecological sustainability of food production.
About NPEC
Plants are absolutely essential to our future, where almost all our food, feed and materials will be derived from plants. Our aim is to enable the development of novel adaptive crops and cropping systems required for future food production and food security without destroying our planet. Our plant phenotyping facilities thus will help to meet the world’s future needs in terms of food and material security: one of the most exciting endeavours for the future.
Plant phenotyping is the game changer that will vastly contribute to make food security possible and sustainable agriculture available.
NPEC offers high throughput and high resolution data from plants both above and below ground. Automatic phenotyping will allow for a dramatic increase in the speed of plant breeding, allowing for a very short time to market for novel crop varieties. The NPEC facility consists of six modules, each offering a dedicated phenotyping platform with its own measurement systems. These systems each support specialized cameras and sensors.
NPEC will enable you to make accurate, high-throughput studies of plant performance possible in relation to relevant biotic (microbiome interactions, competition, disease) and abiotic (light quantity and quality, nutrients, temperature, moisture, soil pH and atmospheric CO2 level) factors across a range of scales.
NPEC is a joint initiative of Wageningen University & Research and Utrecht University. This integrated, national research facility is housed by Wageningen University & Research and Utrecht University and is co-funded by The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Modules
NPEC is one integrated national facility. Our phenotyping facilities are ready for research experiments, and are located at two locations close to each other: Wageningen and Utrecht. You can find more location information on our Contact page.
Below you find all NPEC modules. Click on a module for more information and all available tools and equipment.
Module 1 — Ecotron
NPEC’s Ecotron facility at Utrecht University consists of a range of 36 fully closed and controlled mesocosm systems that allow for real-life plant (agro-) ecosystem analyses in real time.
Module 2 — Plant-Microbe-Interaction Phenotyping
The Plant-Microbe-Interaction Phenotyping Module consists of two independent phenotyping installations designed for high-throughput phenotyping of the plant shoot (Helios) and in-vitro root system (Hades).
Module 3 — Multi-Environment Climate Chambers
NPEC's Multi-Environment Climate Chambers Module hosts a series of 15 small climate chambers with the highest level of homogeneity in temperature, humidity, and light intensity available.
Module 4 — High-Throughput Phenotyping Growth Rooms
The growth rooms in this research module can be used to analyse thousands of plants in a single experiment.
Module 5 — GreenHouse Phenotyping
The fully automated NPEC greenhouse is equipped with conveyors and gantries to collect large scale phenotypic data.
Module 6 — Open-Field Phenotyping
The NPEC Open Field module consists of one easily transportable vehicle, the TraitSeeker and three UAVs, all equipped with state-of-the-art sensors.
Module 7 — Data
The data modules collects, organises, stores and offers access to all NPEC data.
Contact
Do you have a question about NPEC or the research? Please contact us.
Awards
- The Netherlands Plant Eco-phenotyping Centre (NPEC)
- Dutch Research Council
- Microbial services addressing climate change risks for biodiversity and for agricultural and forestry ecosystems: enabling curiosity-driven research and advancing frontier knowledge
- European Commission
- Harnessing the second genome of plants. Microbial imprinting for crop resilience (MiCRop)
- Dutch Research Council