The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on April 25 that approximately 281.6 million people experienced extreme food insecurity last year in the "Global Food Crisis Report (GFRC)." This means nearly 4% of the global population suffered from health and economic distress due to food shortages.
The scientific and technological community is working hard to develop information and communication technology (ICT) to overcome the food crisis. Representative achievements include drones for spraying pesticides, autonomous farming equipment, and smart farms that automatically control the environment. Recently, there have been calls within the scientific community not only to adjust the surrounding environment with ICT but also to understand the plants themselves. The means to achieve this is "plant electronics."
The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and Seoul National University held the "1st Plant-Electronics Convergence Symposium" on the 17th at the Hoam Faculty House on the Seoul National University Gwanak Campus. Kim Jae-jun, a senior researcher at ETRI, noted, "Plant electronics is the next-generation science and technology that will lead the industry while solving food issues."
Plant electronics is a research field that applies electronic engineering technologies originally used for humans to plants. A representative example is measuring the biochemical signals that plants exhibit in response to water scarcity or cold environments using directly consolidated sensors. Park Seong-jun, a professor at Seoul National University's Department of Advanced Convergence Science, stated, "Until now, to gauge a plant's health, we could only observe its appearance or analyze the substances obtained from grinding its cells. By passing electric current and measuring impedance, similar to a body composition analyzer used for humans, we can quickly diagnose its condition."
Professor Park Seong-jun's research team applied "electronic skin" technology, which measures electrical signals using sensors attached to human skin, to plants. They developed a gel that can attach sensors to the surface of plant leaves, enabling stable measurement of biochemical signals over a long period.
The research team created a plant body composition analyzer using the gel they developed. This technology involves attaching sensors that measure biochemical signals to the surface of plant leaves and assessing stress by measuring changes in resistance. Researchers noted that as technology advances, it could contribute to rapidly diagnosing and addressing stress situations where plants might wilt before dying due to excess soil salinity.
Professor Park Seong-jun mentioned, "As farmland is decreasing globally, I am researching 'marine agriculture' that cultivates crops on the ocean. If salt filters fail and plants begin to die, we can promptly diagnose and maintain food productivity."
Scientists are also researching ways to insert sensors into plants by mimicking brain-computer interfaces (BCI). BCI technology involves inserting electrodes into a person's brain to directly collect neural signals, which is used for disease diagnosis and rehabilitation of patients with nerve damage.
Han Sang-gil, a professor in the Department of Biotechnology at the University of Incheon, is researching technology to measure ion concentrations in real-time by implanting microelectrodes into tomato stems. By dividing potassium concentration into several stages and providing it to the plant roots, the results showed accuracy that reached 1,000 times that of other ions.
Professor Han stated, "This experiment was conducted using only potassium concentration sensors; however, using sensors for each ion would allow us to know the plant's condition more accurately, enabling precise identification of the types of stress the plants are experiencing."
Plant electronics is also used to prevent infectious diseases. At the event, Professor Jeong Su from the College of Agricultural Life Sciences at Seoul National University and Professor Gwak Seon-young from the Department of Biosystems and Biomaterials Engineering introduced technologies for diagnosing cabbage soft rot and fungal infections, respectively.
Soft rot is a disease that occurs when cabbage is infected by bacteria, causing the bacteria to break down cell walls and induce changes in resistance. While existing diagnostic methods take at least 2 to 3 days to diagnose soft rot, using the plant electronics technology developed by Professor Jeong's research team allows for early diagnosis within 8 hours.
Professor Gwak Seon-young's research team is studying technology to diagnose fungal infections using optical sensors. This technology identifies the reactions of plants before the fungus multiplies to the point of detection. Professor Gwak stated, "We conducted experiments on grains like wheat and barley, and the diagnostic speed was unbelievably fast. If we can achieve early diagnosis of plant infectious diseases, we expect to maintain food production while reducing pesticide use."
Researchers participating in the event unanimously agreed that plant electronics technology can help address the increasingly severe food issues. Senior researcher Kim Jae-jun noted, "Electronic engineering technology has already advanced significantly for diagnosing human health. If we apply advanced electronic engineering technology to plants, we can achieve results in a short time to resolve food issues.”