Water use efficiency is a priority trait for perennial crops, but it is normally measured at plot or field scale, too coarse to rank individual genotypes and blind to the plant-to-plant variation that selection depends on.
PhenoMobile drives thermal and multispectral sensors along the row and images each plant. Canopy temperature and spectral stress indices are linked to per-plant water-use and vigor traits, and Cloverfield tracks each plant through the irrigation regime.
Researchers gain fine-grained water-use phenotypes for individual plants, enabling direct selection for efficiency and a clearer picture of drought response on almond and grapevine.
