Applications of Drones and Image Analytics in Field Phenotyping: A Potential Breakthrough in Uganda's Agricultural Research

Bongomin, Ocident; Lamo, Jimmy; Guina, Joshua; Okello, Collins; Ocen, Gilbert Gilibrays; Obura, Morish; Alibu, Simon; Owino, Cynthia; Akwero, Agnes; Ojok, Samson

doi:10.2139/ssrn.4158755

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…Like in many developing countries, field phenotyping in African countries is mostly based on conventional and traditional methodologies which rely heavily on manually recorded measurements of phenotypic data or visual assessment of plant parameters. It entails manually inspecting crops and measuring several crop characteristics that affect yield traits, including plant height, number of tillers, leaf color, leaf shape, leaf area index (LAI), chlorophyll content, growth stages, above-ground biomass and stress tolerance ( Gedil and Menkir, 2019 ; Bongomin et al., 2022 ; Badu-Apraku et al., 2023 ). In practice, in traditional field phenotyping, breeders or research evaluators inspect the trial fields and rate the plots according to how they feel, taste, smell, and appear ( Kim, 2020 ).…”

Section: Overview Of the Status Of Field Phenotyping In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is timely to begin to apply these technologies more widely, both geographically and with respect to target crops in Africa. Affordable high-throughput phenotyping aims to achieve reasonably priced solutions for all the components comprising the phenotyping pipeline which will promote their adoption for the breeding of African crops ( Whalen and Yuhas, 2019 ; Bongomin et al., 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few studies have covered the use of modern field phenotyping approaches employing remote sensing in Africa (e.g., Mutanga et al., 2016 ; Chivasa et al., 2017 ; Buchaillot et al., 2019 ; Bongomin et al., 2022 ; Kassim et al., 2022 ). For instance, Bongomin et al. (2022) recently reviewed the status of field phenotyping in Uganda with focus on the application of drones and image analytics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Field phenotyping for African crops: overview and perspectives

Cudjoe,

Virlet,

Castle

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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Improvements in crop productivity are required to meet the dietary demands of the rapidly-increasing African population. The development of key staple crop cultivars that are high-yielding and resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses is essential. To contribute to this objective, high-throughput plant phenotyping approaches are important enablers for the African plant science community to measure complex quantitative phenotypes and to establish the genetic basis of agriculturally relevant traits. These advances will facilitate the screening of germplasm for optimum performance and adaptation to low-input agriculture and resource-constrained environments. Increasing the capacity to investigate plant function and structure through non-invasive technologies is an effective strategy to aid plant breeding and additionally may contribute to precision agriculture. However, despite the significant global advances in basic knowledge and sensor technology for plant phenotyping, Africa still lags behind in the development and implementation of these systems due to several practical, financial, geographical and political barriers. Currently, field phenotyping is mostly carried out by manual methods that are prone to error, costly, labor-intensive and may come with adverse economic implications. Therefore, improvements in advanced field phenotyping capabilities and appropriate implementation are key factors for success in modern breeding and agricultural monitoring. In this review, we provide an overview of the current state of field phenotyping and the challenges limiting its implementation in some African countries. We suggest that the lack of appropriate field phenotyping infrastructures is impeding the development of improved crop cultivars and will have a detrimental impact on the agricultural sector and on food security. We highlight the prospects for integrating emerging and advanced low-cost phenotyping technologies into breeding protocols and characterizing crop responses to environmental challenges in field experimentation. Finally, we explore strategies for overcoming the barriers and maximizing the full potential of emerging field phenotyping technologies in African agriculture. This review paper will open new windows and provide new perspectives for breeders and the entire plant science community in Africa.

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Section: Overview Of the Status Of Field Phenotyping In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Field phenotyping for African crops: overview and perspectives

Cudjoe,

Virlet,

Castle

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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UAV image acquisition and processing for high‐throughput phenotyping in agricultural research and breeding programs

Bongomin,

Lamo,

Guina

et al. 2024

The Plant Phenome Journal

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We are in a race against time to combat climate change and increase food production by 70% to feed the ever‐growing world population, which is expected to double by 2050. Agricultural research plays a vital role in improving crops and livestock through breeding programs and good agricultural practices, enabling sustainable agriculture and food systems. While advanced molecular breeding technologies have been widely adopted, phenotyping as an essential aspect of agricultural research and breeding programs has seen little development in most African institutions and remains a traditional method. However, the concept of high‐throughput phenotyping (HTP) has been gaining momentum, particularly in the context of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐based phenotyping. Although research into UAV‐based phenotyping is still limited, this paper aimed to provide a comprehensive overview and understanding of the use of UAV platforms and image analytics for HTP in agricultural research and to identify the key challenges and opportunities in this area. The paper discusses field phenotyping concepts, UAV classification and specifications, use cases of UAV‐based phenotyping, UAV imaging systems for phenotyping, and image processing and analytics methods. However, more research is required to optimize UAVs’ performance for image data acquisition, as limited studies have focused on the effect of UAVs’ operational parameters on data acquisition.

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Applications of Drones and Image Analytics in Field Phenotyping: A Potential Breakthrough in Uganda's Agricultural Research

Cited by 2 publications

References 110 publications

Field phenotyping for African crops: overview and perspectives

Field phenotyping for African crops: overview and perspectives

UAV image acquisition and processing for high‐throughput phenotyping in agricultural research and breeding programs

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