A. Van Boxom: UAV use to estimate a new phenotypical trait for farmers: the winter oilseed rape vigor

I am Arnaud Van Boxsom, technical manager of variety testing at “Terres Inovia”, the French technical center for the oil and protein sector. My main mission is to evaluate the main varietal traits of oil and protein crops (yield, earliness, disease resistance…) through a testing network in partnership with other organizations (professional agricultural organizations, breeders…), research institutes…). At the same time, I am in charge of finding new varietal selection criteria for farmers, like the vigour of winter oilseed rape.

In recent years, winter oilseed rape (WOSR) production in France is becoming increasingly challenging due to environmental change and land use practices such as increasing pest problems, climatic hazards, and declining chemical protection methods. One of the solutions to overcome these limitations of WOSR production is to identify and assess the new suitable varietal traits.

My presentation for DIGICROP 2020 is about UAV use to estimate a new phenotypical trait for farmers: the winter oilseed rape vigor. We studied the evolution of WOSR soil cover in autumn using RGB UAV photos. We established a methodology that is reliable, robust, repeatable, and more precise than common method by human observations. We found significant genetic diversity of vigour between most common cultivated varieties in France. The results of this study allowed the French farmers to access to a new varietal factor to choose the appropriate variety. The next step is a clear assessment of the interest of vigorous varieties to decrease pest damages in crop production.