Adapting the High-Throughput Phenotyping Tool ALPHI® to Potatoes: First Results and Lessons

• Published in: Potato research 2024-05
• Main Authors: Degan, F., Fournier, A., Gierczak, F., Beauchêne, K., Thomas, S., De Solan, B., Hannon, C., Cohan, J. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural sciences; Agronomy; Life Sciences
• ISSN: 0014-3065; 1871-4528
• DOI: 10.1007/s11540-024-09729-w

This study aimed to provide the first results and lessons of the transfer of the ALPHI (R) phenotyping tool to potato. The ALPHI (R) device is a tractor with two arms carrying RGB cameras and spectroradiometers, able to acquire proximal sensing variables on microplot experiments. Originally developed for cereals, its transfer was one of the objectives of the INNO-VEG project. Based on two field trials comparing yield and nitrogen uptake of five potato cultivars under two nitrogen rates, the work done demonstrated the ability of the ALPHI (R) tool (1) to practically operate on potato microplot experiments and (2) to provide a range of proximal sensing variables already known to be of interest in other crops (green fraction computed from RGB cameras and vegetation indices CIgreen, CIrededge, MTCI, MCARI2, and NDVI). A first analysis of the results indicated that the proximal sensing variables obtained were consistent with previous studies both for their general pattern across time related to the dynamic of the plant cover, and for their relationship with agronomic variables related to biomass accumulation, nitrogen content, nitrogen uptake, and yield. Further investigations are already planned to strengthen the results with other sources of data. The ALPHI (R) tool will also be continuously optimized toward an even more operational device and to include more complex and informative proximal sensing variables