Published: 22nd October 2025
The James Hutton Institute has received a £3 million investment from Scottish Enterprise for its new high throughput phenotyping facility, part of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC) housed in our Crop Innovation Centre (CIC).
The facility allows researchers to assess the plants architecture and health using sensors and lasers to map the plant in detail and how this is then influenced by genetic make-up and changes in the environment. Together with automation and AI the facility will accelerate crop innovation. By discovering new traits more quickly, it will provide a faster route to market for plant breeders serving the agriculture, horticulture, pharmaceutical, food and drink sectors.
The new investment comes in addition to the £62 million invested through the Tay Cities Region Deal (TCRD) by the UK and Scottish Governments. This funded our two new innovations centres, the APGC and the International Barley Hub (IBH), both created in partnership with the University of Dundee Plant Sciences Division.
The cutting-edge plant phenotyping platform is designed to create controlled climate conditions that crops will experience in the future. It integrates automated plant handling, irrigation and climate control together with advanced imaging technologies to screen large populations of plants and select those best suited to the future climate conditions.
It will enable researchers to replicate current and predicted global crop production conditions, thus accelerating the breeding and growing of climate resilient and low input crops, whilst also enhancing the APGC’s research on the issues facing global food, non-food and pharmaceutical crops.
The facility is part of a suite combining advanced phenotyping, automation, AI-driven analytics and a high-performance computing cluster that supports pioneering research and industry collaboration. It will enable national and international collaboration to attract projects that cross academia and industry and ensure a whole sector approach to a more sustainable future for agriculture.
The Hutton’s Chief Executive, Professor Colin Campbell said: “This is a very welcome investment from Scottish Enterprise as this equipment is facilitating some of the most pioneering research into crop resilience being carried out anywhere in the world.
“In a recent economic impact report from BiGGAR, it was noted that for every £1 of funding received, we deliver £15 in economic value for the UK economy, of which £9 is retained in Scotland. It’s thanks to this type of investment that we continue to make the impact we do, using science to secure a more sustainable future, keeping food costs down, protecting livelihoods and making a positive contribution to our economy”.
The James Hutton Institute has received a £3 million investment from Scottish Enterprise for its new high throughput phenotyping facility, part of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC), housed in its Crop Innovation Centre (CIC). The platform, which allows researchers to assess the expressed traits of a plant, as influenced by genetic make-up and changes in the environment, will accelerate its plant-based research expertise support global scientific research. It will also provide a route to market for plant breeders as well as across horticulture, pharmaceutical and food and drink producers who can use the facility for further product development
Pic shows Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise(left) with Colin Campbell, Chief Executive, The James Hutton Institute
….Pic Paul Reid/James Hutton Institute