Biotechnology utilizes transgenic manipulation to change the genetic make-up of plants. Plant breeding is conducted world-wide for a variety of reasons, including improvement of nutritional value, economic opportunity, and environmental adaptation and preservation. Today, international development organizations assert that genetically engineered crops are an important factor in ensuring global health and food security, while simultaneously benefiting farmers, producers, and food manufacturing companies. As such, scientists have developed new higher-yielding varieties that are not only resistant to pests and diseases, but also drought-resistant, or easily adapted to different regional environments and growing conditions.

Breeders and other researchers employ many different scientific methods in their traditional or molecular-based programs, ranging from simple species selection to more complex marker-assisted techniques. Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy provides the agricultural researcher with a rapid screening tool for plant, seed, and other agricultural product analysis. The performance of NIR instrumentation has improved through advancements in scientific know-how, chemometric theory, and computer technology. As a result, NIR analysis has gained increased support within high-level research circles. When applied to plant breeding and agricultural research, NIR analysis significantly reduces the time and financial resources required to produce a new variety, sometimes eliminating years off the development cycle. NIR spectroscopy is rapid and cost-effective for plant and seed analysis compared to conventional wet chemistry and HPLC methods.

In the past several years there has been a considerable increase in the use of NIR spectroscopy for rapid determination of constituent concentrations and quality parameters in agricultural products. Applications include analysis of crop product quality, feed and food quality, water index studies, and grain and crop yield. Use of NIR’s rapid in situ analysis methods greatly improve the efficiency of plant variety development.

The ability to accurately perform spectral reflectance measurements on agricultural products in the field is critical to all of these applications. The ASD FieldSpec^® line of spectroradiometers provides a wide range of configuration options for both contact measurements (such as leaves or in a soil profile pit) and stand-off measurements (those needed to measure canopy reflectance). The ASD systems use a flexible fiber optic cable that can be used with a variety of accessories, presenting many options for acquiring critical data. Instrument portability that only ASD can provide offers researchers the ability to work in some of the most remote regions of the planet.