Exciting News: NMBU Is Set for a Great Christmas Gift

NMBU is preparing for an exciting upgrade to its research infrastructure: the Qsorter® Explorer from QualySense is officially on its way. Expected to arrive before the end of the year, the instrument will bring powerful new capabilities to researchers working in seed quality, phenotyping, precision agriculture, and related fields.

Developed by the Swiss technology company QualySense, the Qsorter® Explorer is a high-performance analytical and sorting platform that enables precise, non-destructive measurement of individual seeds through advanced imaging and machine-learning technologies. Its single-kernel resolution will substantially strengthen NMBU’s capacity for detailed plant and grain research.

The instrument will arrive equipped with a suite of specialized algorithms tailored for several important crops:

• Barley: color, moisture, protein
• Faba beans: color
• Green peas: color
• Groats: color
• Oats: color, geometry
• Wheat: color, fusarium damage, geometry, hardness, moisture, protein

These analytical capabilities support high-precision phenotyping and quality assessment on a kernel-by-kernel basis, enabling more robust studies in breeding, quality control, and grain trait characterization.

“This acquisition opens up entirely new possibilities for high-throughput, high-precision seed and grain analysis at NMBU,” says the project team. “It will significantly enhance our ability to innovate in plant sciences and agricultural research.”

The instrument will be installed at Vollebekk, with training sessions planned shortly after its arrival. Researchers and students will soon have access to one of the most advanced phenotyping tools available today.

As the holiday season approaches, the Qsorter® Explorer is shaping up to be a remarkable Christmas gift—one that will support groundbreaking research and further strengthen NMBU’s role at the forefront of agricultural and biological sciences.