Phenotypic characterization of tropical maize lines and hybrids via high-throughput phenotyping method

• Grant number: 22/15540-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Plant Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Michele Jorge Silva Siqueira
• Grantee: Kenderson Gabriel Gonçalves dos Reis
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The maize genetic breeding has been of high importance in recent decades in the world due to the significant increase in demand for this crop, whether for human consumption or use in livestock. Thus, there is also a need for hybrid cultivars with greater vigor and high productivity in the market. Genetic breeding through conventional phenotyping presents simple and easy techniques within the program, however, they are also susceptible to high experimental errors. Furthermore, with the technological advance in agriculture, the data obtained by the breeder through high-precision equipment becomes an essential factor in the analysis of the experiment data. In high-throughput phenotyping, precision and speed allow the experiment to be evaluated efficiently and with high reliability in the results obtained, through image processing and computational intelligence. Thus, this project is based on the phenotypic characterization of maize lines and hybrids, through the conventional breeding method and high-yield phenotyping, correlating the data obtained in order to obtain phenotypic information of promising genotypes. In addition, the experiment will be conducted in two different areas, with the use of high precision tools, using an unmanned aerial vehicle in the data collection for evaluation of the experiment. The results of this study will serve as a basis for the breeding program, in order to obtain promising maize cultivars through high precision analysis.