Spanish Researchers Use Drones and AI to Identify Climate-Resilient Wheat

Barcelona (ANTARA) - Researchers from the University of Barcelona (UB) are using drones, aerial and ground cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an innovative method for identifying wheat that is resilient to climate change without reducing yields.

The study was published in the journal Plant Phenomics in April. UB academics conducted this research in collaboration with the international research centre Agrotecnio.

The study responds to the growing interest in the agricultural industry in ensuring consistent crop yields in changing environments, the research team based in UB’s Faculty of Biology told Xinhua.

“A single technician can go out with a drone, map everything, and analysts in the office can analyse differences between various crops and obtain accurate estimates of whether this variety will produce more or be more resilient to situations with climate variability,” said Jara Jauregui, one of the researchers and authors of the study.

Using the collected plant data, the research team trained an AI model to predict yields as well as production stability for various varieties with high accuracy.

The team analysed 64 varieties of durum wheat planted under two different Mediterranean conditions: irrigated and rainfed.

They concluded that strong early growth with earlier maturation is a key factor in achieving more consistent yields in changing environments, helping wheat to better withstand droughts and high temperatures.

The researchers stated that using this technology not only accelerates crop selection but also reduces the need for human evaluation of plants directly.