Challenges and Opportunities in High-Throughput Field Phenotyping

In last few years, versatile sensors and associated instrumentation with cross platform connectivity have provided opportunities to enhance our ability to rapidly phenotype in both controlled environment and field conditions. Several research programs across the U.S. are integrating such advanced phenotyping tools into the breeding programs. Overall, developments to date are crop- and area-specific addressing local breeding program needs and often independent of each other. To gain better understanding and have national integration of such efforts, our team has organized a conference in November 2015. Tree fruit, grain, legume and other specialty crop breeders, plant physiologists, data management experts, and sensor and automation experts participated in this two day event to (i) identify current status, gaps, and future research needs for field-based high throughput phenotyping and data management, and (ii) integrate multiple efforts to develop a platform for resource sharing. This talk is aimed to brief the outcomes of this conference.