Chungui Lu

Professor Chungui Lu is a leading expert in Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Food. He leads the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Research Group, specializing in Controlled Environment Agriculture, Vertical Farming, and Plant Genomics. His research drives innovation in sustainable food systems, using AI and machine learning to optimize crop production and resource efficiency.

Email: [email protected]

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Background

Professor Lu gained a PhD in Plant Molecular Biology from the University of Nottingham. Following 3 years postdoc position at the University of Bangor and 4 years research of wheat genomics and nitrogen use efficiency as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol/Rothamsted Research, he took up a joint post as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer at University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University in 2006.

Prior joining ARU, he was group leader and Professor in Sustainable agriculture.  Professor Lu taught across 12 modules (e.g. Advanced Omics Technologies, Genetic Analysis & Bioinformatics, Genetic Crop Improvement, Transferable Skills, Horticulture) whilst working in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University.  He was a Director of Urban Agriculture and Head of the International Centre for Ultra-Sustainable Crops (ICUSC) when he worked at UoN and NTU.

Research interests

Professor Lu’s research interests fall into two main areas: Sustainable Agriculture/Smart Framing and Plant Genomics. Professor Lu's main aim is to investigate resource use efficiency, in particular nutrients (e.g. N, P) and energy (LED light) use efficiency in both soil and soilless growing systems. He has particular interest in vertical farming and urban agriculture through smart green growth technologies. His research also focuses on the use of post-genomic technologies (e.g. RNA Seq, bioinformatics) to monitor gene expression profiles/ patterns and gene regulatory networks for understanding genetic control for crop improvement.

Recently, different artificial intelligence (AI) technologies including machine learning, deep learning methods provide powerful capabilities and methods for analysing agricultural big data. In his research, agricultural big data obtained from controlled environment agriculture (CEA) are used to predict plant growth changes using different machines/deep learning to obtain optimized light recipes and nutrient solution formulas. Deep learning techniques include bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM and LSTM) recurrent neuron networks, and some other machine learning techniques include support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF) to predict the efficiency of optimal crop growth.

Current research interests include:

• Functional plant/crop and crop speedy breading using vertical farming technologies
• Assessing the feasibility of AI, IoT precision data solution for vertical farming
• Light-emitting diode (LED) lights regulate plant growth and development
• Improving crop nutritional value, crop productivity, sustainability, and food security/safety
• Biostimulants enhance plant tolerance to abiotic stress and crop quality.
• Deploying ecosystemic solutions to improve soil health and uncovering subsoil functions

Areas of Expertise

• Sustainable agriculture
• Smart vertical farming
• Plant and crop science
• Plant genomics
• Plant breeding

Areas of research supervision

Prof. Lu is keen to collaborate with highly motivated researchers interested in Smart and Sustainable Agriculture. He welcomes BSc, MSc/MRes, and PhD students, as well as Postdoctoral Researchers and Visiting Scholars, who are passionate about cutting-edge agricultural innovations to join his team and contribute to advancing sustainable food production.

• Advanced Vertical Farming Technologies – Enhancing functional crop traits and accelerating breeding processes through controlled environment agriculture.
• AI and IoT in Precision Agriculture – Evaluating the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to optimize vertical farming systems.
• LED Lighting for Plant Growth – Investigating how light-emitting diodes (LEDs) influence plant development, photosynthesis, and yield.
• Soil Health and Sustainable Agriculture – Developing strategies to improve soil fertility, crop productivity, and food security while ensuring environmental sustainability.
• Biostimulants for Stress Tolerance and Crop Quality – Exploring innovative biostimulants to enhance plant resilience against abiotic stress and improve nutritional value.
• Ecosystem-Based Soil Solutions – Deploying nature-based approaches to restore soil health

Qualifications

PhD, University of Nottingham

PGCHE, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Nottingham Trent University

Memberships, editorial boards

• UKRI Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Food Network+ Champion for Asia (Sustainable Production)
• Board member of the World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies (WSSET)
• Director of Centre of Urban Agriculture
• Head of the International Centre for Ultra-Sustainable Crops (ICUSC)
• Member of Crop Health and Protection (CHAP), UK Agri-Tech Centre
• Member of the Association of Applied Biologists
• Member of Society of Experimental Botany UK
• Member of EU Systems Biology
• Guest Editor for Genes (MDPI); Frontiers in Plant Science
• Associate Editor for Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology
• Associate Editor for Annual Plant Reviews online
• Editorial board member for Advances in Agriculture

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

European Commission, Horizon EU, Deploying Ecosystemic Solutions to Improve Subsoil Health and Uncovering Subsoil Functions in the Critical Zone (DeepHorizon), €03M (Dec 2024 – Nov 2028), Co-I.

Amway Global. Towards Intensive Vertical Farming of High-Value Plants for Targeting Components, £555K, (Nov 2023 – Oct 2026), PI.

Evoponic Ltd., Increasing Abiotic Stress Resistance in Crops Through Biostimulants and Micronutrients. £72.3K (Oct 2022 – Sept 2025), PI.

Innovate UK/MoST, UK-China Precision Farming, Development and Demonstration of Smart and High-Efficient Technologies for Fruits and Vegetable Production in Greenhouse and Plant Factory, in collaboration with CleanGrow, Ltd., UK, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing Research Centre for Intelligent Equipment, Beijing University of Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology and AgriGarden Co., Ltd., £1.5M (2021– 2023), PI.

Innovate UK SMART, joint with Henley Associate, Smart Green Grow - Design and development of an advanced, energy-efficient, carbon-neutral, turnkey vertical farm for onsite use at retailers, schools and end-users. £771K, (Jul 2021 – Jun 2023), Co-I.

STFC Food Network. Increasing the Nutrient-Use Efficiency and Crop Productivity of Hydroponics using SMART Sensors and 3D- Multispectral Crop Imaging, £10k (2022 – 2023), PI.

STFC Food Network, Assessing the feasibility of IoT precision data solution for vertical farming, STFC Food Network+ Scoping Project Funding, £8K (2020 – 2021), PI.

Innovate UK, Farming Futures, joint with Light Science and Technology Ltd., Assessing the feasibility of all-in-one growing sensor and innovative transmission node for vertical farms - driving energy efficiency, productivity and commercial viability, £250K (Feb 2020 – July 2021), PI.

Innovate UK, joint with Growing Underground/Zero Carbon Food Ltd., Improving the productivity, sustainability and scalability of hydroponic growing systems, £784.2K (May 2018 – Dec 2020), PI.

Innovate UK, joint with MicroMix Plant Health Ltd/Olmix Group, Increasing drought resistance in crops by biostimulants and micronutrients, £808K (Jan 2018 – May 2020), PI.

Microsoft, Establishing Innovative Smart Vertical Farm APP in the shipping container farm, $15K (2019 – 2020), PI.

MicroMix and Olmix Group, Enhanced nutritional value and tolerance to abiotic stress in crops through biostimulant and micronutrients with influence on epigenetics, £73K (Oct 2018 – Sept 2021), PI

Purico Group, Developing a Sustainability Assessment Protocol for Abaca (Musa textilis) Plantation Agriculture in Indonesia, £75K (Oct 2017 – Sept 2020), Co-I.

BBSRC, Joint with University of Nottingham, Recovery and valorisation of food chain waste nutrients with a duckweed biorefinery, £65K (Mar 2017 – Sept 2018), Co-I.

Innovate UK, TSB Smart, Joint with Evolve International and MicroMix., The concept of plant growth stimulators that protect against heat-stress in greenhouse, £165k (2015 – 2017), PI.

BBSRC, High throughput intermediate scale sequencing for the Midlands, £350K, (2014 – 2017), Co-I.  

Innovate UK, Agri-Tech Catalyst, joint with Micropropagations, Innovative energy saving and climate control system for greenhouses, £497K (2014 – 2016), Co-I.

Innovate UK SMART, joint with Greengage Lighting Ltd, Sutton Bioponic Ltd., Measurement of plant growth and health for optimal crop yield in LED horticulture, £1.5M (2013 – 2016), Co-I.

BBSRC LINK, Pig feed efficiency: A systems integrative biology approach, £735K (2012 – 2016), Co-I.

BBSRC DTP, Programming genome with LED light in tomato, £80K (2015 – 2019), PI.

British Council, New answers for old problems: a global interdisciplinary training network to address key questions in plant development, £100K (2015 – 2019), Co-I.

EU-Horizon 2020 first-round award, Innovative active-uptake foliar nutrition technology capable of significantly reducing pesticide rates in wheat, £100K (2015 – 2017), Co-I.

Selected recent publications

Sun, W., Coules, A., Zhao, C. And Lu, C. (2025) ‘A lettuce growth model responding to a broad range of greenhouse climates’, Biosystems Engineering, 250, pp. 285-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2025.01.008

Li Y., Ren M., Wu Y., Wang L., Zhao K., Gao H., Li, M., Liu Y., Zhu J., Xu, J., Mo X., Wu Z., Lu C., Zheng S. and Mao C. (2025) ‘A root system architecture regulator modulates OsPIN2 polar localization in rice’, Nature Communications, 16 (15). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55324-5

Lu C. (2024) ‘The palm tree that lives beneath the rainforest floor’, The Conversation.

Mohmed, G., Heynes, X., Naser, A., Sun, W., Hardy, K., Grundy, S. and Lu, C. (2023) ‘Modelling daily plant growth response to environmental conditions in Chinese solar greenhouse using Bayesian neural network’, Scientific Reports, 13 (1): 4379. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30846-y

Oh S., and Lu, C. (2022) ‘Vertical farming - smart urban agriculture for enhancing resilience and sustainability in food security’, Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1080/14620316.2022.2141666

SuN, W., Wei X., Zhou B., Lu C., Guo W. (2022) ‘Greenhouse heating by energy transfer between greenhouses: System design and implementation’, Applied Energy, 325 (1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119815.

Liu, H., Wang, W., Yang, M., Yuan, P., Hammond, J.P., King, G.J., Ding, G., White, P.J., Wang, S., Cai, H., Wang, C., Lu, C., XU, F. and Shi, L. (2022) ‘Genome‐wide association studies of important agronomic traits in Brassica napus: what we have learned and where we are headed’, Annual Plant Reviews Online, 5 (2). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119312994.apr0801

Heynes, X., Wang, D. and Lu, C. (2022) ‘Plant genome editing: advances and prospects of market-ready food crops’, Annual Plant Reviews Online, 5 (2). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119312994.apr0799

Mohmed, G., Grundy, S., Lotfi, A. and Lu C. (2022) ‘Using AI approaches for predicting tomato growth in hydroponic systems’, Advances in intelligent systems and computing (1409). pp. 277-287. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87094-2_24

Lu C. and Grundy, S. (2022) ‘Urban agriculture and vertical farming’. In: S.A. ELIAS, ed., Earth systems and environmental sciences. Elsevier. http://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.10184-8

Nadaraja, M.D., Lu C. and Islam, D.M.M. (2021) ‘The sustainability assessment of plantation agriculture - a systematic review of sustainability indicators’, Sustainable Production and Consumption, 26, pp. 892-910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.12.042

Bian, Z., Wang, Y., Zhang, X., Grundy, S., Hardy, K., Yang, Q. and Lu C. (2021) ‘A transcriptome analysis revealing the new insight of green light on tomato plant growth and drought stress tolerance’, Frontiers in Plant Science, 12: 649283. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.649283

OH, S., Cave, G. and Lu, C. (2021) ‘Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) and micronutrient fortification in food crops using nanoparticle technology’, Frontiers in Plant Science, 12: 668819. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.668819

Hardy, K., Orridge, T., Heynes, X., Grundy, S. and Lu, C. (2020) ‘Farming the future: contemporary innovations enhancing sustainability in the agri-sector’, Annual plant reviews Online https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119312994.apr0728

Zheng, Z., Cai, Y., Zhao, Y., Meng, X., Zhang, Y., Lu, C., Hu, Y., Cui, Z. and Wang, X. (2020) ‘Achieve clean and efficient biomethane production by matching between digestate recirculation and straw-to-manure feeding ratios’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 263: 121414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121414

Zhang, X., Bian, Z., Yuan, X., Chen, X. and Lu, C. (2020) ‘A review on the effects of light-emitting diode (LED) light on the nutrients of sprouts and microgreens’, Trends in Food Science and Technology, 99, pp. 203-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2020.02.031

Zhang, X., Bian, Z., Li, S., Chen, X. and Lu, C. (2019) ‘Comparative analysis of phenolic compounds profile, antioxidant capacity, and expression of phenolic biosynthesis-related genes in soybean microgreens grown under different light spectra’, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.9b05594

BIAN, Z., ZHANG, X., WANG, Y. and Lu, C. (2019) ‘Improving drought tolerance by altering the photosynthetic rate and stomatal aperture via green light in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seedlings under drought conditions. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 167: 103844. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.103844

LIU, X., ZHU, X., WEI, X., Lu, C., SHEN, F., ZHANG, X. and ZHANG, Z., 2019. The wheat LLM-domain-containing transcription factor TaGATA1 positively modulates host immune response to Rhizoctonia cerealis’, Journal of Experimental Botany, 71 (1), pp.344-355. http://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erz409

Gu, J., Li, W., Wang, S., Zhang, X., Coules, A., Ding, G., Xu, F., Ren, J., Lu, C. and Shi, L. (2019) ‘Differential alternative splicing genes in response to boron deficiency in Brassica napus’, Genes, 10 (3): 224. http://doi.org/10.3390/genes10030224

Ajmera, I., Hodgman, T.C. and Lu, C., (2019) ‘An integrative systems perspective on plant phosphate research’, Genes, 10 (2): 139. http://doi.org/10.3390/genes10020139

Bian, Z., Jiang, N., Grundy, S. and Lu, C. (2018) ‘Uncovering LED light effects on plant growth: new angles and perspectives - LED light for improving plant growth, nutrition and energy-use efficiency’, Acta Horticulturae (1227), pp. 491-498. http://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1227.62

Zhang, X., Wei, J., Huang, Y., Shen, W., Chen, X., Lu, C., Su, N. and Cui, J. (2018) ‘Increased cytosolic calcium contributes to hydrogen-rich water-promoted anthocyanin biosynthesis under UV-A irradiation in radish sprouts hypocotyls‘, Frontiers in Plant Science, 9: 1020. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01020

Bian, Z., Cheng, R., Wang, Y., Yang, Q. and Lu, C. (2018) ‘Effect of green light on nitrate reduction and edible quality of hydroponically grown lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) under short-term continuous light from red and blue light-emitting diodes’, Environmental and Experimental Botany, 153, pp.63-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2018.05.010.

Bian, Z., Yang, Q., Li, T., Cheng, R., Barnett, Y. and Lu, C. (2018) ‘Study of the beneficial effects of green light on lettuce grown under short-term continuous red and blue light-emitting diodes’, Physiologia Plantarum, 164(2), pp.226-240. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.12713. 

Wang, L., Guo, M., LI, Y., Ruan, W., Mo, X., Wu, Z., Sturrock, C.J., Yu, H., Lu, C., Peng, J. and Mao, C. (2018) ‘LARGE ROOT ANGLE1, encoding OsPIN2, is involved in root system architecture in rice’. Journal of Experimental Botany, 69 (3), pp. 385-397. http://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erx427

Ajmera, I., Shi, J., Giri, J., Wu, P., Stekel, D.J., Lu, C. and Hodgman, T.C. (2018) ‘Regulatory feedback response mechanisms to phosphate starvation in rice’. npj Systems Biology and Applications, 4 (1), pp. 4. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41540-017-0041-0

Jiang, L., Ball, G., Hodgman, C., Coules, A., Zhao, H. and Lu, C. (2018) ‘Analysis of gene regulatory networks of maize in response to nitrogen’, Genes, 9 (3), p. 151. http://doi.org/10.3390/genes9030151

Wang, M., Zhu, X., Wang, K., Lu, C., Luo, M., Shan, T. and Zhang, Z. (2018) ‘A wheat caffeic acid 3-O-methyltransferase TaCOMT-3D positively contributes to both resistance to sharp eyespot disease and stem mechanical strength’, Scientific Reports, 8: 6543. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24884-0

Zhu, X., Lu, C., Du, L., Ye, X., Liu, X., Coules, A. and Zhang, Z., 2017. The wheat NB-LRR gene TaRCR1 is required for host defence response to the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia cerealis. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 15 (6), pp. 674-687. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12665

Khan, F., Chai, H., Ajmera, I., Hodgman, C., Mayes, S. and Lu, C. (2017) ‘A transcriptomic comparison of two bambara groundnut landraces under dehydration stress’, Genes, 8 (4), p. 121. http://doi.org/10.3390/genes8040121

Lu, C. (2017) ‘Scientists have mapped the DNA of tea – and it could stave off a pending crisis’. The Conversations.

Ajigboye, O.O., Lu, C., Murchie, E.H., Schlatter, C., Swart, G. and Ray, R.V. (2017) ‘Altered gene expression by sedaxane increases PSII efficiency, photosynthesis and growth and improves tolerance to drought in wheat seedlings’. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 137, pp. 49-61. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pestbp.2016.09.008

Khan, F., Azman, R., Chai, H.H., Mayes, S. and Lu, C. (2016) ‘Genomic and transcriptomic approaches towards the genetic improvement of an underutilised crops: the case of bambara groundnut’. African Crop Science Journal, 24 (4), pp. 429-458. http://doi.org/10.4314/acsj.v24i4.9

Bian, Z., Cheng, R., Yang, Q., Wang, J. and Lu, C. (2016) ‘Continuous light from red, blue, and greenlight-emitting diodes reduces nitrate content and enhances phytochemical concentrations andantioxidant capacity in lettuce’, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 141 (2), pp. 186-195. https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27803

Recent presentations and conferences

Lu C. (2024) ‘Future of Agriculture: Smart Vertical Farming Driven by Artificial Intelligence and IoT.’ Aberystwyth University Seminar, Aberystwyth (UK), 25 November.

Lu C. (2024) ‘Enhancing Sustainable Agriculture for Future Food Security and Human Health.’ Global Innovation Forum on Plants and Human Health’, Sam Kong Forum, Macau (China), 9-11 November.

Lu C., and Mohmed G. (2024) ‘Smart vertical farming Harnessing Artificial Intelligence.’ Vertical Farming World Congress, Frankfurt (Germany), 25-26 September.

Lu C. (2024) ‘Smart Farming: Internet of Things (IoT)-Based Sustainable Agriculture.’ The 1st International Online Symposium of Agriculture Communications (online), 21-24 August.

Lu C. (2024) ‘Securing Public Food Supply During Times of Disruption: Vertical Farming & Sustainable Agriculture.’ The Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC) Seminar, 19 June.

Lu C. (2023) ‘Empowering Chinese Medicine Research Through the Synergy of Smart Vertical Farming and AI’. The 11th World Integrative Medicine Congress (WIMC 2023), Hangzhou (China), 30 November - 4th December.

Lu, C. and Mohmed, G. (2023) ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) leads vertical farming and urban agriculture. In: 2nd International Workshop on Vertical Farming (VertiFarm 2023), Chengdu (China), 22-24 May.

Lu, C. (2022) ‘Integrated technologies for improving vertical farming system’. In: AVF Summit, Dortmund (Germany), 26-28 September.

Olafare, K., Ramanathan, U. and Lu, C. (2022) ‘Reviewing Africa's urban agri-food supply chain: sustainability approach’. In: 29th International Annual EurOMA Conference, Berlin (Germany), 3-6 July.

Lu, C. (2021) ‘Food security in a rapidly changing world - part one: Smart green grow vertical farming for improving food production and sustainability’. In: UN75+1 at NTU Conference, Nottingham (UK), 30 November - 2 December.

Lu, C., and Mohmed, G. (2021) ‘International vertical farming and new food system - development of AI & precision data solution for improving food production and sustainability’. In: International Vertical Farming and New Food Systems Conference and Exhibition, Munich (Germany), 2-3 September.

Lu, C. (2021) ‘Can vertical farms provide sustainable food and allow restoration of ecosystems?’ In: Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum, London (UK), 23 June.

LU, C. (2021) ‘Intelligent controlled vertical farms- recent developments & challenges'. In: Agri-Food MIG Conference, Campden BRI, 15-17 June 2021.

LU, C. (2021) ‘AI and smart farming’. In: 6th International Horticulture Conference (online), 20-22 April 2021.