Solve the Breeder’s Equation Using High-Throughput Crop Phenotyping Technology

This chapter provides an overview of high-throughput crop phenotyping technology on its concept and significance under the context of crop production improvement. The roles of different components in the crop production equation (\({\varvec{P}}={\varvec{G}}\times {\varvec{E}}\times {\varvec{M}}+\varepsilon\)) toward crop yield, i.e., crop yield (P) is a function of crop genotype (G), environment (E) and management (M) is discussed. It is concluded that all components have a great impact on the agriculture yield. Studies suggest that the contribution of crop genetic improvement to yield improvement can be increased substantially upon the breakthroughs in high-efficient crop phenotyping technologies. The potential solutions to improve crop yield gain are discussed and guided by the genetic gain (breeder’s) equation. In this chapter, the concept of high-throughput phenotyping technology is introduced and their potential contributions toward genetic improvement are discussed. This chapter also provides some background information for the high-throughput phenotyping technologies discussed in the following chapters.