Grasslanz Technology Joint Venture Reveals the Invisible World of Endophytes
Endophytes are naturally occurring fungi that protect pastures from insect pests, but can sometimes cause animal health problems, like ryegrass staggers. Companies now produce seeds containing certain strains of endophytes that give farmers the best of both worlds – providing pest resistance without seriously affecting animal health. Quality assurance is therefore critical to confirm that seeds have the right endophyte strains, ensure the endophytes are alive, and check for other contaminant strains. In the past, quality control has required a time-consuming manual procedure that destroys the seed in the process. MI8 Optics solves these issues using advanced hyperspectral imaging technology developed at Massey University.
