Envirotyping: characterizing crop growing environment using soil, weather and management data
Problem
Crop genotypes interact with their environment, which is influenced by soil type and weather, and are affected by the management systems used for their cultivation. To understand why a crop has performed in a particular way and to allow comparison of this performance across multiple locations, it is necessary to characterize the growing environment.
Solution
Envirotyping can show how environmental factors affect plant growth and development. Recording weather conditions, soil parameters and management practices is crucial to accurately characterise the crop growing environment. This information can further be used in crop models to estimate aspects of crop performance that are more difficult to measure, such as crop water use (IRRIGUIDE, ADAS) and nitrogen uptake (CHN, ARVALIS). See figure 1 and 2 for examples.
Principle data inputs
Weather: Rainfall, temperature, solar radiation, humidity, wind speed
Soil: Topsoil depth, subsoil depth to rock, texture in the different horizons, pH, soil organic matter, nutrient concentrations (e.g., P, K and Mg), water holding capacity, bulk density, stone content, total nitrogen, calcium carbonate content, maximum rooting depth
Field: Location (longitude and latitude), altitude, previous crop, sowing and harvest dates, crop type, nutritional inputs, dates of main developmental stages, irrigation, crop protection management information
Quality of the data determines model quality: The quality of the data will determine how well the interaction between genotype, environment and management can be assessed. For instance, localized rainfall data, recent soil nutrient reports, soil organic matter and pH information alongside representative soil sampling methods are essential for an accurate evaluation.
For full practice abstract, see: https://zenodo.org/records/13683214
Root phenotyping and genetic improvement for rotational crops resilient to environmental change
Ongoing | 2022-2027
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- France, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Morocco, South Africa