Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached included researchers from different areas of research (agronomy, plant and soil sciences, breeding and genomics, engineering, computer science, etc.). The researchers were from private companies (agriculture-based and plant phenomics), graduate students and faculties from public/private universities, USDA-ARS labs, etc. In addition, the leaders from several federal funding agencies such as USDA, NSF, DOE, etc. were reached. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided the project director S. Sankaran, an early career faculty with an opportunity to network with diverse group of experts working/interested in the area of phenomics. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1) The conference summary report is available in the website (https://labs.wsu.edu/sankaran-phenomics/documents/2016/08/whitepaperafri_htp_spokane.pdf) with free access to all target audience. 2) The findings from the conference have been shared with different communities through various presentations. For example, one of the talks at Plant and Animal Genome conference as a part of National Plant Genome Initiative Workshop coordinated by the Interagency Working Group on Plant Genomics (IWGPG) reached 250+ audience which included researchers from universities, private agriculture-based companies, stakeholder organizations, and representatives from federal agencies. 3) The report will also be shared with all the participants of this conference and several others who have requested the report by email. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The conference was successfully organized with multidisciplinary group of individuals (35% genetics and breeding, 28% engineering, 23% plant biology and physiology, and 14% bioinformatics expertise) to identify the current progress and potential advancements that can accelerate variety development through breeding and genomics. Researchers from several breeding programs such as cereal grain (wheat, maize, etc.) and specialty (potato, tree fruits, legumes, vegetables, alfalfa, etc.) crops participated at this event. In general, there were conservative optimism amongst breeders and geneticists on adopting advanced technologies for high-throughput automated/semi-automated phenotyping in the place of standard methods. The two critical questions that remain to be answered are: Could phenomics assist in discoveries? Is phenotyping just a tool? More research can possibly answer these questions in order to utilize sensing tools towards plant research and breeding. The greatest benefit would arrive "if the high-throughput sensing techniques can be utilized to select good parental varieties that would otherwise be rejected based on standard methods" during plant breeding. This will increase the selection efficiency in field conditions (reducing the rejection rate at each selection stage), thereby providing economic benefits in terms of resources and better variety selection. Future research should focus on two phenomic research aspects: (i) improving the efficiency in which current phenotypes/traits can be measured, and (ii) measuring new phenotypes/traits that cannot be evaluated otherwise using sensors. Another major outcome was identified as the need for continuous transdisciplinary interaction (scientists and engineers) through the development of research networks to advance discovery, technology development, and adoption towards high-throughput plant phenotyping. The findings have been summarized in a report available at: https://labs.wsu.edu/sankaran-phenomics/documents/2016/08/whitepaperafri_htp_spokane.pdf.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Sankaran, S., Carter, A.H., Kalcsits, L.A., Okamuro, J.K., Slaughter, D.C., Kirchhoff, H., and Poland, J. 2016. Challenges and opportunities in high-throughput field phenotyping. Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) Conference XXIV, W605, 9-13 Jan., 2016, San Diego, CA. (Invited, 250 participants)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Sankaran, S., Slaughter, D.C., Carter, A.H., Kalcsits, L.A., Okamuro, J.K., Kirchhoff, H., and Poland, J. 2016. Integrating science and engineering to address needs in high-throughput phenotyping. 2016 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Annual International Meeting, Abstract No. 162472820, 17-20 July, 2016, Orlando, FL.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Sankaran, S. 2016. Advancing sensing tools and future of phenomics. North American Plant Phenotyping Network Inaugural Convening Event, Purdue University, 29-31 Aug., 2016, West Lafayette, IN. (Invited)
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Sankaran, S., Carter, A.H., Slaughter, D.C., Kirchhoff, H., Okamuro, J.K., Poland, J., and Kalcsits, L.A. 2016. Conference Summary Report on Advances in Field-Based High-throughput Phenotyping and Data Management: Grains and Specialty Crops. Available at: https://labs.wsu.edu/sankaran-phenomics/documents/2016/08/whitepaperafri_htp_spokane.pdf.
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