Smart Technologies for Sustainable Food Production
Continued improvements in crop performance are needed to cope with climate change and to keep pace with population growth. To tackle these global challenges, novel approaches are required to identify superior crop varieties and to explain the genetics of agriculturally important traits. Plant phenotyping covers the description and characterisation of such complex plant traits and crop responses, using non-destructive image analysis-based tools in the context of plant research and crop breeding. Synergies between Flemish phenotyping installations, coordination of phenotyping initiatives and training, and access to state-of-the-art phenotyping platforms is needed to drive world-leading plant and agricultural sciences.
Plant Phenotyping Infrastructure
That’s why EMPHASIS-Belgium was formed, the national node for the European distributed plant phenotyping infrastructure EMPHASIS. The goal of this project is to provide researchers access to plant phenotyping facilities and services, and bring together the Belgian plant phenotyping community to exchange ideas, foster collaborations, and explore future opportunities.
EMPHASIS-Belgium is sponsored by FWO (Research Foundation - Flanders) and coordinated by the following partners:
- VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology (PSB)
- VIB Agro-Incubator
- ILVO (Instituut voor Landbouw, Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoek)
- VITO Remote Sensing
Multiscale Plant Phenotyping
VIB, ILVO, and VITO join forces to combine their phenotyping and imaging technology for improved plant selection. Their infrastructure and expertise range from detailed measurements in controlled lab environments to field assessments with drones and satellites.
EMPHASIS-Belgium partners VIB, ILVO, and VITO Remote Sensing pooling their technologies for multiscale plant phenotyping
That’s why VITO offers its digital platforms MAPEO, Terrascope, and ClimTag to enhance research in the phenotyping community. MAPEO in particular is an automated image processing service for drone-based phenotyping. This online platform gives plant breeders, researchers, and agricultural field managers a more complete and objective view on experimental field trials of any size.
MAPEO screens
Call for Experiments
From 1 December 2025 until 31 January 2026, there is an open call for phenotyping projects. Flemish and European researchers and small to medium-sized companies are invited to apply for access to the state-of-the-art plant phenotyping infrastructure of the EMPHASIS-Belgium partners, including MAPEO. Selected candidates will be able to use these cutting-edge phenotyping platforms at a favourable rate, thanks to the support of the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) and EMPHASIS-Belgium.
Interested in running your science experiment on the MAPEO platform? Make sure to register before the end of January via the inquiry form below:
