A NEW APPROACH FOR SWEET POTATO PHENOTYPING UNDER WATER DEFICIT: INTEGRATING MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ANALYSES

• Grant number: 25/13362-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: Edgard Henrique Costa Silva
• Grantee: Elisa Patricia Ramos de Melo
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade do Oeste Paulista (UNOESTE). Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03120-6 - Development of drought-tolerant sweet potato genotypes, AP.PNGP.PI

Abstract

Sweet potato is a strategic crop for food security in several countries, but its yield is severely affected by water scarcity. Drought tolerance is a multifactorial trait that involves complex physiological, biochemical, and morphological responses, making it difficult to objectively assess using conventional methods. This project proposes a multidisciplinary approach to identify and characterize sweet potato genotypes with greater potential for drought tolerance, through the integration of multispectral images obtained with drones, physiological analyses, and high-throughput phenotyping. The experiments will be conducted at different times and under different water conditions in Western São Paulo, using sensors to monitor soil moisture and physiological parameters such as water potential, gas exchange, and chlorophyll fluorescence. The images obtained will be processed to generate vegetation indices that will be correlated with physiological, phenotypic, and agronomic characteristics. Furthermore, different data analysis strategies will be employed to achieve the objectives of this proposal, such as predictive modeling via machine learning, study of genotype x environment interactions, estimation of canonical correlations between groups of variables, and adjustment of growth curve models. The aim is to identify genotypes that are more resilient to water stress and understand the mechanisms associated with tolerance, contributing to genetic improvement programs and sustainable management strategies.