Scientists Use Big Data in Farming to Beat Drought

A consortium of scientists received a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the effects of climate variability on crops. The consortium includes research teams from the University of Missouri campuses at Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis, as well as Washington University, Saint Louis University, Lincoln University, the St. Louis Science Center, and the Danforth Plant Science Center.

The team from Danforth Center will work on the genomes of corn to improve drought tolerance and water-efficiency. According to Danforth plant scientist Todd Mockler, the main objective of their study is to understand how roots contribute to drought tolerance and pinpoint which genetic traits are in charge of the water-efficient characteristics. They will also study how shoots, leaves, flowers, and other structures respond to drought.

On the other hand, Danforth's bioinformatics expert, Doug Bryant, will work on developing tools that will handle and analyze big data on humidity, soil temperature, plant growth and more, with some of the imaging data coming from drones. His team's end goal is to develop models that can help farmers predict yields and other outcomes with as much precision as possible.

For more details, visit http://www.danforthcenter.org/news-media/in-the-news/in-the-news-item/(st.-louis-business-journal)-data-farming-researchers-using-drones-data-to-beat-drought.