In a method of measuring moisture in corn, an ear of corn is operatively coupled to a moisture meter and an amount of moisture is determined while the ear of corn is being grown on a corn plant. The moisture meter can use a spectrometry to determine the amount of moisture in the corn. A moisture meter includes a corn interface configured to conformingly engage the ear of corn when pressed against the ear of corn to form an optical seal about an opening through which the spectrometer determines the amount of moisture in the corn to inhibit ambient light from passing between the corn interface and the ear of corn into the at least one opening.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to freshness indication. In some embodiments, a freshness indicating device is provided. The freshness indicating device comprises a collector and an indicator. The collector is adapted to collect water from an object. The object includes at least one of fruits and vegetables. The indicator is adapted to indicate the freshness of the object based on the amount of the collected water. A corresponding method and a container comprising the freshness indicating device are disclosed as well.

A system for measuring chlorophyll concentration in a leaf sample includes a leaf-holding illuminator device with a main body containing a power source, a plurality of switchable light sources emitting light at different spectra (e.g., red and white light from a broadband light source), and a cap detachably secured to the main body using one or more fastening means. The leaf sample is interposed between the main body and the cap and held in place during imaging. The system includes a mobile electronic device having a camera configured to capture an image of the leaf illuminated by the plurality of switchable light sources, the mobile electronic device having wireless connectivity to a network and an application contained therein configured to transfer the images to a remote sever or computer via the network for data processing. A final chlorophyll index value is calculated based on the transferred images.

A maturity determination device includes an image capturing device to capture a image including a plurality of first and second pixels; and a signal processing circuit configured to find an area size ratio of an intensity distribution of light of a first wavelength band on the basis of a predetermined reference value based on pixel values obtained from the plurality of first and second pixels, and to generate maturity determination information in accordance with the area size ratio. The first pixel includes a first light transmission filter, and the second pixel includes a second light transmission filter. The intensity of the light of the first wavelength band reflected by the fruits and vegetables varies in accordance with the maturity level, and the intensity of the light of the second wavelength band reflected by the fruits and vegetables is substantially the same regardless of the maturity level.

A method for detecting at least one property of a plant product, the method including: directing source light including ultraviolet (UV) light at UV wavelengths and polarized visible and/or near-infrared (VIS/NIR) light at VIS/NIR wavelengths onto a region of the plant product; blocking the polarized VIS/NIR light of the source light, and blocking polarized specular reflection from the region of the plant product, from being transmitted to a visible and/or near-infrared (VIS/NIR) spectrometer; and transmitting a portion of emitted light caused by fluorescence and/or diffuse reflection from the region of the plant product to the visible and/or near-infrared (VIS/NIR) spectrometer.

Methods and systems for determining water status in plant tissue are provided. A number of systems are capable of using terahertz signals to generate signals measuring total water content in plant tissue, including plant leaves. Using these signals, methods are capable of determining water status variables, including water mass per leaf area, relative water content, and leaf water potential, which can aid in agricultural, ecological, and environmental health, such as dehydration and droughst stress of plants.

The present technology relates to an imaging apparatus, an imaging method, and a program that perform appropriate exposure control, to thereby enable a desired object to be appropriately imaged. The present technology includes: an imaging unit including a plurality of pixels having different spectral characteristics; and an exposure control unit setting information associated with exposure control on the plurality of pixels depending on specification information for specifying a kind of a measurement target. Alternatively, the present technology includes: an imaging unit including a plurality of pixels having different spectral characteristics; and an exposure control unit setting information associated with exposure control on the plurality of pixels on the basis of a predicted output value of each of the plurality of pixels based on a spectral characteristic related to a measurement target. The present technology is applicable to an imaging apparatus which senses vegetation, for example.

In embodiments, acquiring sensor data associated with a plant growing in a field, and analyzing the sensor data to extract one or more phenotypic traits associated with the plant from the sensor data. Indexing the one or more phenotypic traits to one or both of an identifier of the plant or a virtual representation of a part of the plant, and determining one or more plant insights based on the one or more phenotypic traits, wherein the one or more plant insights includes information about one or more of a health, a yield, a planting, a growth, a harvest, a management, a performance, and a state of the plant. One or more of the health, yield, planting, growth, harvest, management, performance, and the state of the plant are included in a plant insights report that is generated.

A method and apparatus for determining a reflectance, of at least a portion of a target object, in at least one selected wavelength range of electromagnetic (EM) radiation are disclosed. The method comprises, for each selected wavelength range, providing a digital image including at least one target object and a plurality of reference objects, each reference object having respective non-identical predetermined reflectance characteristics, with a digital camera arrangement that provides output image data that comprises digital numbers that are responsive to radiation, in only a selected wavelength range, incident at a sensing plane of the digital camera arrangement. A relationship between a first set of the digital numbers is determined and a first set of the respective predetermined reflectance characteristics of the reference objects. Responsive to the relationship, a further set of digital numbers is transformed to allocate a value of reflectance for each of the digital numbers in the further set. For at least a portion of the target object, a corresponding first group of allocated values of reflectance is determined and responsive to the first group of allocated values, determining a reflectance of the portion of the target object.

A high-power-microscope-assisted identification method of maize haploid plants is provided, the method is implemented by a device including a high power microscope, a main frame disposed on an objective table of the high power microscope and a computer and includes four procedures of sample information input, automatic testing of a batch of samples, automatic analysis and comparison, and automatic generation of data results. Vertical sliding grooves are symmetrically formed in the main frame, and a vertical supporting plate is disposed at an upper end of the main frame. Horizontal sliding grooves are symmetrically formed in the vertical supporting plate, and a horizontal supporting plate is disposed on the vertical supporting plate.