Prof. Naoshi Kondo Visits Smart Agri Plant Factory FTP UGM, Discusses Biosensing Technology

Yogyakarta, August 21, 2026. The application of precision agriculture technology continues to be developed to address various challenges in plant cultivation, including growing environment management and rapid, non-destructive plant condition monitoring. This development became one of the discussion topics during the visit of Prof. Naoshi Kondo from Kyoto University, Japan, to Smart Agri Plant Factory, Faculty of Agricultural Technology (FTP) UGM, on Friday (21/8).

During the visit, Prof. Kondo was accompanied by Kamikubo Keita from Yammer Environmental Sustainable Support Association (YESSA). Prof. Kondo's presence was part of a review activity of the YESSA program implemented by the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering FTP UGM. In addition to viewing research facilities, the delegation held discussions with researchers regarding the development of biosensing engineering to support smart agriculture.

The visit was received by the Coordinator of Researchers at Smart Agriculture Research Center and Head of the Laboratory of Agricultural Energy and Machinery FTP UGM, Andri Prima Nugroho, Ph.D., at Smart Agri Plant Factory. On this occasion, Andri introduced the activities of the Smart Agriculture Research Center, which focuses on the application of precision agriculture for tropical agriculture through the utilization of information technology and smart farming, from research development to field implementation.

Andri also presented a number of studies related to biosensing technology currently under development. One of them is a thermal image-based monitoring system to detect crop water stress index (CWSI) in controlled environment agriculture. This technology is used to help evaluate the level of water stress in plants through canopy temperature observation.

In addition, the research team utilizes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to support the design and optimization of management and operational systems for controlled environment agriculture or plant factory. This approach allows researchers to analyze growing environmental conditions and air flow distribution so that cultivation systems can be managed more effectively.

Prof. Kondo provided input regarding the potential use of fluorescence imaging to evaluate plant conditions. This technology utilizes fluorescence light sources and computer vision as a more economical evaluation device. According to him, this method has the potential to be developed as a non-destructive plant evaluation system and can be adopted in future research.

This meeting opened opportunities for strengthening research in the field of biosensing and smart agriculture. The exchange of knowledge between FTP UGM, Kyoto University, and YESSA is expected to foster the development of plant monitoring technology relevant to the needs of tropical agriculture and support the development of more precise and sustainable cultivation systems.

The activity also supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly through the development of agricultural technology to increase productivity and sustainability of food production, strengthening research innovation, and international collaboration between universities and development partners.

Linkages with SDGs

• SDG 2 – Zero Hunger: supports the development of productive and sustainable food production systems through precision agriculture, plant condition monitoring, and growing environment management.
• SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: strengthens research and technology innovation through the utilization of thermal imaging, computer vision, fluorescence imaging, and computational fluid dynamics in the field of agriculture.
• SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production: promotes the use of agricultural resources more efficiently through water stress monitoring and operational optimization of plant factory.
• SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals: strengthens international research cooperation between FTP UGM, Kyoto University, and YESSA in the development of sustainable agricultural technology.