Phenomics-assisted sparse testing for potato breeding

Abstract

In recent decades, global weather patterns have shifted dramatically, introducing greater unpredictability into agriculture. A major challenge in plant breeding is developing selection strategies that remain accurate under such uncertainty. Sparse testing is a well-established approach to increase the number of genotypes evaluated in field trials while keeping costs manageable. However, incorporating image-based data into sparse testing remains challenging. We developed a strategy to integrate high-throughput phenotyping data into sparse testing in potato breeding to improve predictive performance in multi-environment trials. Our approach involved constructing an environmental kernel derived from the covariance matrix of image-based data. We assessed the predictive performance of several regression models under sparse testing, including those based on genomic or phenomic data alone and in combination. Models using only the proposed environmental kernel achieved predictive accuracies comparable to, or exceeding, those of genomic prediction models in various sparse testing scenarios. The best results were observed for tuber yield, a key trait in potato breeding. These findings highlight the potential of image-based environmental kernels to improve the efficiency and accuracy of sparse testing. This approach is cost-effective and scalable, particularly useful for breeding programs with limited resources.