RE-IMAGINE-CROPS Project Kicks Off to Transform Sustainable Agriculture with Real-Time Imaging

On May 6th, 2025, the RE-IMAGINE-CROPS project officially launched with a kickoff meeting that brought together leading researchers and industry experts from across Europe. Over the next three years, this EU-funded initiative will develop an innovative imaging technology to support more sustainable and efficient crop management, addressing one of agriculture’s most pressing challenges: the overuse of nitrogen (N) fertilizers.

As global food demands rise, current technologies fall short in precisely measuring and adjusting fertilizer use, often resulting in ecological harm and financial loss. RE-IMAGINE-CROPS aims to change this by enabling real-time, in-field monitoring of plant physiological responses through an advanced multimodal imaging system that combines Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Multiphoton Endoscopy (ME). This portable system will allow researchers to observe metabolic and cellular processes in crops with unprecedented spatial resolution and speed, making it possible to tailor fertilizer application based on real plant responses within moments of treatment.

The success of this technology depends on a specialized tracer to visualize internal crop processes, enabling detailed imaging from tissue to cellular level. The system's performance—achieving resolution down to 0.6 mm and 1 µm at up to 10 Hz—will open new possibilities for precision agriculture.

The project is coordinated by Euro-BioImaging ERIC, the European research infrastructure for biological and biomedical imaging. The consortium includes nine partners: Euro-BioImaging ERIC and the University of Turku (Finland), BF Educational and the University of Teramo (Italy), the University of Maastricht (Netherlands), CNRS, LIGHTCORE, and the University of Lille (France), and VRVis (Austria). Among the partners are imaging facilities that are part of two Euro-BioImaging Nodes: including the AMMI Maastricht Node and Austria BioImaging/CMI Node. The participation of BF Educational, a major agrifood enterprise, underscores the project's strong industrial relevance and its potential for real-world impact.

RE-IMAGINE-CROPS brings together top-tier expertise across disciplines—from imaging and plant physiology to data modeling and optics—with the shared goal of creating a mobile, real-time tool that empowers farmers to reduce waste, protect ecosystems, and ensure sustainable food production in Europe and beyond.

Article contributed by Rafael Diaz.