Filed
Australian provisional patent application
Plant Response Diagnosis System for Hidden Stress Detection in Soilless Crops
Verify on the Australian Patent Search →Tehran, Iran
Sepideh Abedi
Horticultural Science Specialist · Agricultural Consultant · Smart Agriculture Researcher
Nine years advising farmers and growers on crop production, plant nutrition and plant health, built on graduate training in plant physiology and vegetable crop breeding. That combination now drives a research project on diagnosing hidden plant stress in soilless greenhouse systems.
- Field experience
- 9 years
- Highest degree
- M.Sc. Horticultural Sciences
- Patent applications
- 2 filed, 2026
- International awards
- 2 gold medals
Profile
From the field to the framework
Sepideh Abedi is a horticultural science specialist and agricultural consultant based in Tehran. Since 2017 she has worked with farmers and commercial growers in Karaj province, visiting farms and orchards, assessing crop condition, identifying production problems, and building plant nutrition programmes.
Her academic training is in agricultural engineering, with a master’s specialisation in plant physiology and vegetable crop breeding. The two sides reinforce each other: the physiology explains what she sees in the field, and the field work keeps the science answerable to real production conditions.
Since 2026 that work has extended into applied research on smart agriculture — specifically, how to tell when a greenhouse plant is under stress before the symptoms become visible.
Areas of focus
- SciencePlant physiology, vegetable crop breeding, crop production
- PracticeField assessment, plant nutrition programmes, agricultural inputs, farmer training
- SystemsSoilless and greenhouse cultivation, irrigation management
- ResearchPlant stress diagnosis, crop monitoring, explainable decision support
- LanguagesPersian (native), English (professional working proficiency)
Research & innovation project
Plant Response Diagnosis System (PRDS)
An explainable decision-support framework for detecting hidden physiological stress in soilless greenhouse crops. Independent project, April 2026 – present.
The problem
A greenhouse can look healthy on every gauge. Substrate moisture, electrical conductivity, drainage and root-zone temperature all sit in range; air temperature, humidity and light do too. The plant can still be under stress — from evaporative demand, osmotic pressure, root-zone restriction or uneven irrigation — and growers often notice only once symptoms or yield loss appear.
The approach
Rather than reading each sensor in isolation, PRDS asks a different question: given these growing conditions, is the plant responding the way it should? It estimates an expected plant response from substrate and environmental data, compares it against the response actually observed, and treats the gap between the two as the diagnostic signal.
Why explainable
Every intermediate value in the pipeline has a physiological meaning, so a grower or reviewer can trace why a given diagnosis and recommendation were produced. The aim is a transparent reasoning chain, not an opaque score.
Evaluation
The framework was exercised against the Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge (second edition) dataset, a public benchmark of commercial tomato greenhouse records published by Wageningen University & Research. The data is not the researcher’s own; it was used to test whether the framework produces coherent, interpretable output on real production data.
Technical detail is presented at a general level while the patent applications are pending. Quantitative results are held for peer review and are not reproduced here.
Intellectual property
Patent applications filed
Both filings below are pending applications. Neither is a granted patent. Application status can be checked directly with the issuing authority.
Filed · publication pending
International patent application (PCT)
Plant Response Diagnosis System for Hidden Stress Detection in Soilless Crops
The image above is the PATENTSCOPE front-page preview of the filed application. It is marked draft and carries no WO number because international publication has not happened yet — PCT applications publish roughly 18 months from the priority date. Receipt of the application and payment of all prescribed fees are confirmed by WIPO on form PCT/RO/102, available on request.
International recognition
Awards, credentials and membership
Every entry relates to the PRDS project. Select any document to read it at full size. Where a credential can be checked against the issuing body’s own record, the link goes there rather than to a file hosted here.
Gold medal
IFIA INV Members Gold Medal
6th International Invention and Innovation Competition for IFIA INV Title Holders.
The certificate records the project title as “Plant Response Diagnosis System for Detection in Soilless Crops”. The full registered title is “… for Hidden Stress Detection in Soilless Crops”.
Certificate in transit
Gold medal
WICO 2026 Gold Medal
World Invention Creativity Olympic, awarded for the PRDS project in agricultural technology and smart farming.
The medal and certificate are still in transit from the organisers. The document will be published here on arrival; until then this award rests on the statement above and not on evidence shown on this page.
Grade B
IFIA Innovation Standard (IIS)
Innovation credential assessed by the IFIA jury board against the Innovation Standard criteria.
Verify on ifia.com →
Membership
IFIA “Inv” Title
Recognition as an IFIA Inv member, the federation’s title for individual inventors.
Verify on ifia.com →
Issued
Letter of recommendation
Covers the development and international advancement of the PRDS project. On official letterhead, with signature and institutional seal.
Download the letter (PDF) →Professional experience
Nine years in the field
-
2017 — present
Agricultural Consultant
Nature Horticulture (Nahalestan Tabiat) · Karaj, Iran
- Advise farmers and commercial growers on crop production, horticultural practice, plant nutrition and agricultural inputs.
- Conduct field visits to farms and orchards, assess crop condition, identify production problems and issue technical recommendations.
- Develop crop nutrition programmes and support growers in improving crop quality and productivity.
- Promote sustainable practice, including biological pest management.
- Run training workshops for farmers on plant nutrition and crop management.
-
2026 — present
Independent research & innovation project
Plant Response Diagnosis System (PRDS)
- Developing an explainable decision-support framework for greenhouse monitoring and early identification of plant stress in soilless cultivation.
- Outputs to date: a demonstration dashboard, technical documentation, two patent applications, and a research manuscript in preparation.
Education
Academic background
-
2015 — 2017
M.Sc. Agricultural Engineering — Horticultural Sciences
Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch · Tehran, Iran
Specialisation in plant physiology and vegetable crop breeding. Graduate study covered plant physiology, crop production, vegetable crop breeding and applied agricultural research.
-
2011 — 2014
B.Sc. Agricultural Engineering — Horticultural Sciences
Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch · Karaj, Iran
Undergraduate training in crop production, plant science, soil and water management, agricultural inputs and foundational horticultural practice.
Research output
Plant Response Diagnosis System for Hidden Stress Detection in Soilless Crops — research manuscript, single author. Status: in preparation; internal final draft. Not submitted, not peer reviewed, and not claimed as published.
Contact
Open to research collaboration and academic opportunities
Interested in graduate research, collaboration on greenhouse monitoring and plant stress diagnosis, and applied horticultural work in soilless production systems.
- Email se.abedi90@gmail.com
- LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/sepideh-abedi
- Location Tehran, Iran
- Curriculum vitae Download PDF