About Platform 1

The first phase of the P2IRC program resulted in the development of numerous software applications, several of which are used in the image-processing pipeline. Others are used for specific domains such as the visualization of genomics data, soil analytics or microbiome workflows. These developments will be used across the program’s second phase and must be kept running, made more accessible and updated with new functionalities and other improvements as even more progress is made.

The Maintenance Platform focuses on three maintenance systems:

  • The PlotVision image-analysis pipeline;
  • The Deep Plant Phenomics platform; and
  • Several stand-alone applications for genome visualization, image exploration/annotation and data analysis.

Platform 1 will maintain, expand and advance these innovative agtech systems to improve their stability, usability, throughput and capability. It will also transition new software applications from testing environments to permanent hosts for general use. The aim is to - to effectively support the P2IRC program’s Flagship Projects and deliver the smooth interface between agtech input and innovative digital agriculture outcomes.

Practical Applications

  • PlotVision, the primary tool in the P2IRC program for managing and analysing image-based phenotyping data, allows researchers to browse, compare and assess imagery for crop field trials.
  • Each domain-specific application provides services to P2IRC and external researchers, including specific data analyses and data visualization.

The following projects are currently underway within Platform 1:

Activity 1.1

Maintenance of PlotVision

Maintaining and expanding the PlotVision system for the analysis of field images and the extraction of phenotypes.

PlotVision is a software-as-a-service product for the analysis of agricultural field images. It identifies individual field plots in drone images and uses machine learning to extract phenotypes (traits) and predict outcomes such as harvest yield and yield stability. P2IRC platform researchers will maintain the PlotVision system during this Activity, introducing upgrades and improvements as needed.

Activity 1.2

Maintenance of deep plant phenomics

Maintenance of the Deep Plant Phenomics pipeline for automated phenotyping, and the integration of new functionalities.

Deep Plant Phenomics is an open-source deep learning tool that provides pre-trained neural networks for several common plant phenotyping tasks, as well as an accessible platform that can be used by plant scientists to train models for their own phenotyping applications. Platform researchers are maintaining the Deep Plant Phenomics platform, introducing new capabilities and ensuring its integration with PlotVision. The result will be a smooth interface between the imaging and sensing systems, combined to deliver extensive analyses of plant traits – allowing for informed decision-making in agriculture.

Activity 1.3

Domain-specific applications

Enabling the transfer of domain-specific applications to a permanent host for general use.

The P2IRC program has led to the development of multiple software programs and algorithms currently restricted to domain-specific applications reflecting the initial programing environment. Through this Activity, researchers are working to make these applications ready for general use by transferring them to the program’s servers and improving their usability.