The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced that world-renowned plant pathologist Jaimin Patel, Ph.D., has joined the center, further strengthening the LRC’s horticultural lighting and plant pathology program. Dr. Patel will collaborate with Dr. David Gadoury of Cornell University’s Division of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology and Dr. Mark Rea of the LRC on a $1.7 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study the novel use of light to suppress a broad group of plant pathogens affecting sustainable production of organically grown crops.
“In stark contrast to conventional wisdom, which points to the favorability of temperature and relative humidity as primary drivers of pathogen epidemics in controlled environments, our research indicates that both visible and UV radiation have heretofore unappreciated roles as epidemic drivers,” said Patel. “This discovery opens new possibilities to suppress plant pathogens by selective manipulation of light.”
Right now, more than 7 billion people are competing for Earth’s dwindling supply of natural resources. By 2050, there will be 9 to 10 billion. To meet increasing demand, efficient and sustainable crop production and energy systems are needed.
Solid-state lighting has the potential to change the way crops are grown in controlled environments, and even the type of crops grown there. An expanding list of spectrally tuned SSL is available to modify morphological and chemical characteristics of plants, enabling growers to extract greater value from crop production. The technical developments of lighting for horticulture applications have fueled an expansion of controlled environments for crop production. However, controlled environments also present substantial challenges for pest and disease management. The research team at Cornell University and the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer seeks to understand and exploit light-dependent mechanisms for the purposes of suppressing plant pathogens in these challenging environments.
“The advancements in solid-state lighting offer unprecedented opportunities to manipulate wavelength, pulse duration, synchrony, and novel spectral combinations to produce suppressive effects on pathogens, while maintaining plant health and productivity,” said Patel.
Patel is the author of more than 40 scientific articles, and serves as the Associate Editor of Plant Health Progress, a peer-reviewed journal of applied plant health. Prior to joining the LRC, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Tropical Research and Education Center at the University of Florida, where he collaborated with scientists from around the world to study multiple crops and a variety of plant pathogens. His professional research career has provided advanced knowledge for the management of plant diseases through his many publications, presentations, and outreach activities for growers, consumers and other stakeholders.
For more information:
www.lrc.rpi.edu






Announcements
Job Offers
- Export Sales Manager Europe Division
- Directors - New Zealand
- Nursery Production Manager Victoria Australia
- Technical Sales Consultant, Washington
- Export Sales Manager North America Exports
- Head Grower Hydroponic Greenhouse
- Account Manager – South-East Asia
- Vegetable Seed - EU Sales and Regional Manager
- Business Developer – High Tech Horticulture
- Operations Manager Organic Farm Barka Oman
"Tweeting Growers"
Top 5 -yesterday
- New greenhouse machine Zeus protects crops and operators
- Photo report HortiContact: Catching up in over 300 photos
- Canada: B.C.'s cool, wet spring playing havoc with farmers
- Dutch strawberry greenhouse Kalteraardbeien closes its doors
- The Netherlands produces almost 7 times more cucumbers per square meter than Spain
Top 5 -last week
Top 5 -last month
- "Honduras greenhouse park to become the largest producer-exporter in the Central American region"
- Netherlands: Codema Systems Group declared bankrupt
- Shanghai: Young people who can't get vegetables start to "help themselves" through hydroponic vegetables
- Canada: Dutch holding company acquires Ontario Plants Propagation
- Google meets agriculture at Go Green Agriculture
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2022-05-18 Solis Agrosciences delivers specialized research services for AgriFoodTech innovators
- 2022-05-18 Growing-Smart: We provide clients with suitable, cost-effective solutions
- 2022-05-18 Stackable planters designed for aeroponic and hydroponic crops
- 2022-05-18 Heating mats to maximize plant nursery yields
- 2022-05-18 Illegally connected greenhouse in Romitan cost the district 437 million
- 2022-05-18 Wilco Schoonderbeek to reinforce the Horticoop Board as Director of Investments
- 2022-05-18 Vestaron closes series C funding at $82M
- 2022-05-18 Australia: Horticulture Workforce Forum to build employment pathways
- 2022-05-18 Orion hires sales person in Azerbaijan
- 2022-05-18 Kubota invests in US-based agtech startup
- 2022-05-18 The Flavorite brand turns a new marketing leaf
- 2022-05-18 "New technologies deserve a chance"
- 2022-05-18 Fall Creek brings on new commercial manager for Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador
- 2022-05-18 Carrier Transicold crosses milestone, with over 1.5 million refrigeration units sold
- 2022-05-17 Kalera appoints James Leighton as president and CEO
- 2022-05-17 Kuehne+Nagel creates a ‘sustainable airport corridor‘ in Los Angeles
- 2022-05-17 Cleveland County greenhouse business a mainstay for 30 years
- 2022-05-17 Agromediterránea replaces plastic with 100% compostable PLA and kraft packaging
- 2022-05-17 South African company to invest in tomatoes, flowers and peppers
- 2022-05-17 Fair Farms delivers many benefits to Australian growers