LiDAR and RGB-image analysis to predict hairy vetch biomass in breeding nurseries

Hairy vetch is a fall seeded annual legume that can be used as a forage and cover crop. As a cover crop, it can provide numerous ecosystem services, such as soil erosion reduction, carbon sequestration, and pollinator habitat, but also agronomic services such as weed suppression and N fixation via soil rhizobium species. To improve cover crop function, traits such as biomass production are especially relevant, making it a first priority trait for cover crop breeders. However, direct phenotypic methods for biomass production are destructive. Breeders have thus relied on subjective, visual scoring methods for biomass, which are generally correlative, but are not quantitative or absolute. In this study, we evaluated two low-cost remote sensing tools, LiDAR and RGB-image analysis, for their effectiveness at predicting biomass in vivo. We evaluated these tools in two common forage breeding scenarios, spaced-plant and sward-plot nurseries, at three Minnesota locations following the winter of ...