Prediction of aboveground biomass of three cassava (manihot esculenta) genotypes using a terrestrial laser scanner

Abstract

Challenges in rapid prototyping are a major bottleneck for plant breeders trying to develop the needed cultivars to feed a growing world population. Remote sensing techniques, particularly LiDAR, have proven useful in the quick phenotyping of many characteristics across a number of popular crops. However, these techniques have not been demonstrated with cassava, a crop of global importance as both a source of starch as well as animal fodder. In this study, we demonstrate the applicability of using terrestrial LiDAR for the determination of cassava biomass through binned height estimations, total aboveground biomass and total leaf biomass. We also tested using single LiDAR scans versus multiple registered scans for estimation, all within a field setting. Our results show that while the binned height does not appear to be an effective method of aboveground phenotyping, terrestrial laser scanners can be a reliable tool in acquiring surface biomass data in cassava. Additionally, we found that using single scans versus multiple scans provides similarly accurate correlations in most cases, which will allow for the 3D phenotyping method to be conducted even more rapidly than expected.