In this fourth episode of a series of CAPTE videos, Alexis from Hiphen asks Professor Frédéric Baret from INRAE EMMAH to describe the type of plant phenotyping traits and indicators we can compute using UAV (drones). But first of all, if you don't know what an agronomic trait is, check out our dedicated post HERE.

Professor Baret explains that we can group these traits in three classes:

  • Architectural traits
  • Biophysical traits
  • Disease symptoms

With the first class of traits, we are indeed measuring traits related to the canopy structure like the amount of leaves, or the amount of light intercepted by the crop that can then be transformed into biomass. With the second category of traits, we are aiming at characterizing the biochemical composition of the plants which is very interesting for instance for the chlorophyll content since it is closely related to the nitrogen intake of the plant.

Finally, disease symptoms and plant stress can indeed be measured with different methods in order to understand if the crop is growing under good conditions of if some stress factors are limiting its development such as water or thermal stresses.

hiphen traits off-the-shelf

At Hiphen we have developed a catalogue of traits based on methods that we continuously challenge and improve within the CAPTE research unit. We can therefore offer a robust set of high-value traits and indicators, while being very creative to compute new ones - either as technology evolves, or because our clients request very specific traits.

We would be delighted to tell you more about our traits catalogue, so do not hesitate to get in touch with at contact@hiphen-plant.com to ask questions and see how we could support your projects.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Keep safe,
Your Hiphen Team.