Bayer CropScience Vegetable Seeds opens a new phytotron building at its research site in Acampo, California.
The new building houses 10 phytotrons for growing plants. Phytotrons are growth chambers that provide optimal conditions of light, temperature, and relative humidity for development of diseases of crops, such as tomato and watermelon. Precise and reproducible control of the environment are critical to disease resistance breeding. Tests can be conducted year-round in the phytotron building, and with more reproducibility than in the greenhouse.
The building has been outfitted with many advanced and sustainable features. One of the uniquely sustainable features is a high-tech wastewater filtration system, which filters the used building water, which is then entered into a storage tank for landscape irrigation use on the facility grounds. LED lighting is also featured throughout the growing chambers for energy efficiency, uses less toxic materials and is longer lasting. The building will be in full effect later this year.
