“PhenoWeek” takes place at the INRAE centre in Toulouse!
“PhenoWeek” took place from 21 to 23 May 2024, with three days devoted to the general meetings of the AgroEcoPhen project and then the PIA PHENOME-EMPHASIS, including a common day to encourage exchanges between the two networks. This was an opportunity for the community to meet up at the INRAE centre in Toulouse, which is also home to the “Phenotoul” Research Infrastructure and, in particular, the “HeliaPhen” platform, and to share the latest news on digital phenotyping, whether for field crops, arboriculture or viticulture. The INRAE units involved in these projects were of course present, as well as Terres Inovia, Arvalis and GEVES, which has been part of the PHENOME network since 1 January 2024. Each session, after an introductory part, dealt with different subjects of interest: the importance of sensors and vectors such as drones, which have been tested for over 3 years now in GEVES trials for counting at emergence on DUS maize in particular, coverage rate in multi-species VSCU and height in sunflower or oilseed rape VSCU, the LITERAL boom (the new V2 version of which will be marketed in autumn 2024) used for coverage rate VSCU in service plants and straw cereals (winter oats and triticale) and “Phenomobiles“, connected stakes for envirotyping (one of which is currently being tested at the Anjouère station) for better characterisation of trial conditions, artificial intelligence (AI) for segmenting and exploiting the various images acquired, and the next challenges to be met in using these digital technologies in agronomic research: optimising energy consumption in the case of autonomous connected stakes, managing the variability of images depending on the crop, for example.
The use of connected stakes was a central theme, for their role in collecting data in connection with envirotyping and GxE interactions, with a view to characterising trial conditions as accurately as possible, both in terms of climate and agronomy. These stakes are designed to minimise the energy used, enabling them to be used for long periods in the field, and a ‘Rshiny’ interface makes it easy to visualise the data collected. After test phases at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, notably at the Anjouère station, a first series of 70 units will be launched by the end of the year, with a view to massively equipping the INRAE Experimental Units, Terres Inovia, Arvalis and GEVES sites for the 2025 campaign.
Developments on the “Phénomobiles” were reviewed, with, in addition to the now-familiar model for field crops, specific models for arboriculture and viticulture: incorporating some of the sensors from the field crops version (RGB, multispectral and LIDAR cameras) but mounted on a narrow-track agricultural tractor.
In terms of image processing and Artificial Intelligence, the optimisation of image processing was widely discussed. The images taken present specific challenges depending on the crop, with, for example, the vine in a trellis (2D structure) compared with trees grown in a goblet (3D structure). In the context of agroecology and crop associations, one of the main challenges will be to identify the plants of interest within the plant complex, to separate them from weeds. There is also the case of ear counting in wheat plots using the LITERAL boom, the result of an internal Arvalis development, which could be tested in GEVES trials from this year. For Terres Inovia, the development of algorithms for the automatic counting of insect pests is a priority. The development of an application for counting insect larvae, using an acquisition system with a basket grid, adjusted to prevent the insects from flying away, is currently being tested.
Finally, the data management aspect was central to the discussions. Analysis systems such as 4P for “Plant Phenotyping Processing Platform”, a system supported by INRAE and currently based on France Grille’s “iRods” storage and distribution infrastructure (with future developments), the platform used by GEVES to analyse images from the LITERAL boom, and “PHIS” for data display and retrieval, are essential for managing the large quantities of data generated and facilitating their analysis and use. These platforms also ensure compatibility with existing tools such as Adonis and GeoFolia.
It should be noted that the training of teams in these new tools is an issue that has been considered, with a project for a technical school on phenotyping planned for March 2025 in which several GEVES agents will participate. The aim of this initiative is to train researchers, engineers and technicians in new technologies and best practice in project management and data analysis.
En conclusion, cet événement a démontré les avancées significatives permises par les projets AgroEcoPhen & Phenome dans le développement et l’application des technologies du numérique à l’agriculture. Dans la même veine, les journées « science et partenariat », organisées conjointement par PHENOME et L’institut Carnot Plant2Pro auront lieu les 26 et 27 septembre 2024 avec comme thème : « Phénomique végétale : comment la caractérisation numérique de la réponse des plantes à l’environnement permet d’accompagner les innovations de la filière végétale ? ». Les défis techniques restent présents mais les solutions proposées montrent une voie claire pour surmonter ces obstacles et côté étude variétale, faire entrer pleinement le GEVES dans le monde de l’AgTech !
In conclusion, this event demonstrated the significant advances made possible by the AgroEcoPhen & Phenome projects in the development and application of digital technologies to agriculture. In the same vein, the “science and partnership” days, organised jointly by PHENOME and the Plant2Pro Carnot Institute, will be held on 26 and 27 September 2024, on the theme of “Plant phenomics: how digital characterisation of plant response to the environment can support innovation in the plant sector”. The technical challenges remain, but the solutions proposed show a clear way of overcoming these obstacles and, as far as plant breeding is concerned, bringing GEVES fully into the world of AgTech!
