New software means that drones can now identify cereal crop traits from above which accurately link to plant DNA—a breakthrough that should make the work of crop breeders and researchers easier.
Developed by NIAB-EMR in the UK in conjunction with China Academy of Sciences and Nanjing Agricultural University, AirMeasurer, an open-source platform that can be used with cheap drones, means that large-scale visual information can for the first time be used to link plant characteristics and genetics.
A “step change” for crop analysis
The technology uses artificial algorithms to provide analysis of crop traits. Traits of interest can then be associated with hundreds of genetic lines of rice and wheat.
“AirMeasurer demonstrates a step change in our abilities to analyse static and dynamic traits of cereal crops such as rice and wheat. It provides automated 2D/3D trait analysis for aerial phenotyping that cannot easily be achieved through traditional approaches,” said Professor Ji Zhou, NIAB’s Head of Data Sciences.
Tech to aid resilience?
Testing across multiple seasons in China demonstrated the efficacy of the new approach, meaning that NIAB will now be applying the technology in ongoing government and commercial projects.
“Plant breeders, growers and researchers can all take advantage of the AirMeasurer system and the potential for using drones to extract meaningful phenotype information from their crops. This helps drive innovations in plant characterisation and crop breeding, leading to more resilient crops for farmers to grow, addressing the global climate challenge,” Professor Zhou added.
