Genomes to Fields: Translating Our Understanding of the Genome to Predictions of Performance in the Field

Agriculture faces the enormous challenge of efficiently and sustainably producing a safe, dependable food supply for a growing world population. Meeting this challenge requires the development and management of crop varieties that will perform well in spite of increased weather variability. To address this challenge, an ambitious widescale plant phenotyping initiative is proposed which will expand our understanding of the interacting roles of crop genomes and crop environments (including weather and management practices) on crop performance. A critical part of the Genomes To Fields Initiative is fostering interdisciplinary research collaborations between crop scientists and engineers and computational scientists.   The engineers will develop new technologies (e.g., robots and sensors) that will make high-throughput phenotyping possible. The computational scientists will develop new computational approaches to analyze the resulting very large (big data) datasets of phenotypes and environmental data and thereby facilitate an understanding of gene function and to address fundamental problems of agricultural productivity. The Initiative’s interdisciplinary network of scientists and datasets will provide an excellent training platform for students studying agriculture, genetics and engineering.  By improving our ability to predict crop performance in diverse environments, this initiative will enhance our ability to develop new varieties and to manage the effects of weather variability on crop production.