The Korea Seed and Variety Service (KSVS) on Dec. 2 will hold online the International Workshop on Image Analysis in Plant Variety Testing to promote the program of the same name both in Korea and overseas and seek development. (KSVS)

By Kim Hayeon 

A workshop next month will introduce to the world the excellence of a Korean-made program to analyze images for testing new plant varieties.

The Korea Seed and Variety Service (KSVS) on Dec. 2 will host online the International Workshop on Image Analysis in Plant Variety Testing to promote the program both in Korea and overseas and seek its development. 

The KSVS and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute developed the program for accurate and efficient analysis of new plant varieties, which is expected to facilitate the transition from the use of labor-intensive testing methods dependent on visual detection and direct measurement to cutting-edge technology.  

The most widely used program, ImageJ, which was developed by the National Institutes of Health of the U.S., cannot identify bent objects and color. But Korea's program can be used to examine most plants as it can analyze bent parts, plant rotations and colors with just one image.   

The new program has been distributed free to 46 organizations including entities related to the seed industry, public agencies and universities.

A researcher of the Korea Seed and Variety Service (KSVS) tests the program on image analysis in new plant variety testing developed by the organization. (KSVS)