FAST ADAPTation of stone fruit to pesticide reduction with digital phenotyping

Because fighting for pesticide reduction allows addressing altogether sanitary demands and food security we propose here to focus on the adaptation of stone fruit to biotic pressures (diseases and pests).
The general objectives of this 18 months project are:
• To evaluate the potential of DP for peach health characterization in the orchards as a proof of concept
• To characterize plant health in peach genetic resources conducted under low input conditions
• To identify robust genotypes in peach genetic resources, i.e. individuals sustaining a healthy canopy in the absence of pesticides over one phenotyping season.
The long term goal is to accelerate resilience breeding in stone fruit,i.e. breeding varieties which can sustain their production in the presence of pests and pathogens over the years. The final ambition is to develop a disruptive approach combining DP with genomics-informed breeding to multiply time gains for breeders and hence total genetic gain.