Cultivate’21: Got your lighting dialed in? Get ready for ePAR
Researchers announced new findings on how photosynthetic light should be quantified.
A fundamental change in how we define photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) is afoot, at least if you believe two researchers who presented at Cultivate’21 this week in Columbus, Ohio.
Utah State University’s Dr. Bruce Bibgee, as well as the University of Georgia’s Marc van Iersel, discussed some intriguing findings at Cultivate 21 from ex-graduate research student Shuyang Zhen, a former student of Bigbee’s who is now a researcher in Texas A&M’s ag program.
Her work was recently published in a prominent scientific research report in June 2021, arguing that far red photons should be included in the definition of photosynthetic photons, and that standards should be developed to quantify the amount of those photons being provided by horticultural lighting. Basically, PAR needs a bit of an upgrade.