Addressing yield stability drivers of canola in a changing climate using high throughput phenotyping
To conduct field trials of the B. napus Nested Associated Mapping (NAM) germplasm resource in contrasting climatic environments in order to acquire a sizably sufficient dataset to test and apply emerging phenotyping and selection techniques to improve canola yield stability.
Tolerance to environmental stress underlies the ability of a variety to consistently yield under increasingly variable seasonal conditions. There is great potential to improve the efficiency and precision of identifying yield stable breeding lines using Digital Phenotyping, or the use of sensors cameras to capture and process data and images collected remotely over the lifecycle of the crop. The Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (P2IRC) at the University of Saskatchewan established a first-rate crop phenotyping research capacity in Canada. This project funded AAFC field trials of the spring Brassica napus Nested Association Mapping (NAM) population, which was developed specifically to study complex traits like yield stability and environmental stress tolerance. A sizable sufficient dataset to test and apply emerging phenotyping and selection techniques to improve canola yield stability for Canadian producers was attained.