PhenoWeek at the INRAE centre in Colmar
From 2 to 5 June, the INRAE centre in Colmar hosted the annual “PhenoWeek” meeting, four days of discussions on digital phenotyping and envirotyping. Organised as part of the general meetings of the AgroEcoPhen project and the PIA PHENOME-EMPHASIS France. In addition to the INRAE teams involved, Arvalis, Terres Inovia and GEVES were also present, the four supervisory bodies of Phenome since GEVES was officially admitted in January 2024.
The four days of ‘PhenoWeek’ were devoted to the general meetings of the AgroEcoPhen project and then the PIA (Future Investment Project) PHENOME-EMPHASIS. A joint day promoted exchanges between the two networks. The phenotyping community gathered at the INRAE centre in Colmar to share the latest news on digital phenotyping, whether for the field crop, arboriculture or viticulture communities. The INRAE units involved in these projects were of course present, as were Terres Inovia, Arvalis and GEVES. This year, discussions focused on how to go further in terms of integration, with several sessions devoted to the structuring of “methodological nodes”, namely MCP1 (Methodological Common Project) (led by Marie Weiss from UMR EMMAH in Avignon and David Rousseau from the ImorPhen team at UMR IRHS in Angers) and devoted to methodological developments in vectors, sensors and analysis chains, as well as MCP2 (led by Isabelle Alic from UMR MISTEA and Cyril Pommier from URGI) dedicated to data organisation/storage and the information system for PHIS field experiments.
It should be noted that the training aspects for the teams involved, particularly in image analysis techniques and tools (using artificial intelligence), were implemented through the organisation of a technical school called “High-Throughput Phenotyping” in Sète last February, with discussions on the organisation of future events on these topics to train new researchers,
Other general topics were also discussed, such as the transformation of PIA Phenome into a permanent research infrastructure, with work currently underway on the preparation of a consortium agreement. Phenotyping in European countries, phenotyping for biocontrol and biostimulation, and workshops on communication and the needs and expectations of platforms in terms of new characterisations and new developments in imaging.
The working groups and platforms presented their latest news, new projects and synergies.
In conclusion, this event demonstrated the significant advances made possible by the AgroEcoPhen & Phenome projects in the development and application of digital technologies in agriculture.
