Crop Disease Phenotyping
We focus on the development of methods enabling automated, high-throughput phenotyping of crop diseases at multiple scales, ranging from symptoms associated with single lesions on individual leaves to monitoring entire crop stands under field conditions.
The availability of accurate and timely information on the presence and damage potential of crop diseases is a key prerequisite for the implementation of resource-efficient disease control strategies. For example, both development and application of intervention thresholds rely on repeatable and precise assessments of disease incidence and severity. Such information is also crucial for the identification of novel sources of resistance and efficient selection in resistance breeding.
Obtaining such data at sufficient quantity and quality is extremely challenging. Our aim is to develop measurement devices and image analysis procedures enabling automated, high-throughput phenotyping of crop diseases to help relieve this bottleneck. Specifically, our goal is to contribute to i) expanding our understanding of host-pathogen interactions through detailed assessments of symptom appearance, ii) facilitating the implementation of concepts of integrated disease management and precision agriculture, and iii) increasing the rate of genetic gain in resistance breeding.