BELIS Webinar “Image processing: Pixels to phenotypes to advance legume breeding”

On 22 June 2026, the Horizon Europe BELIS Project (Breeding European Legumes for Increased Sustainability) organised a Webinar on “Image processing: Pixels to Phenotypes to advance legume breeding”.

BELIS – “Breeding European Legumes for Increased Sustainability” is a Horizon Europe Project focusing on 14 legume species, including 7 forage legumes (red clover, white clover, annual clover, alfalfa, sainfoin, bird’s-foot trefoil, and vetches) and 7 grain legumes (pea, faba bean, soybean, white lupin, lentil, chickpea, and common bean).

This webinar, with over 190 persons registered, addressed how high-resolution UAV imagery, combined with spectral, spatial, and AI concepts, enables non-destructive, time-efficient extraction of quantitative phenotypic information from crops. Through focused presentations, we introduced fundamental remote sensing concepts, demonstrated how pixel‑level data can be translated into plot‑level phenotypic traits, and discussed the transformative role of automation and vision‑based AI in modern plant phenotyping. The session also presented practical case studies in lucerne, red clover, and pea, comparing drone‑based predictions with manual phenotyping and evaluating their impact on working conditions and equipment investment, with the participation of the following lecturers:

• Pixels to Phenotypes: Spectral, Spatial, and AI Concepts in (UAV) Imagery, by Arno Kasprzak & Peter Lootens (ILVO) [slides of the presentation available here]
• Lucerne case, by Eric Roy & Bernadette Julier (INRAE) [slides of the presentation available here]
• Counting flowers using drone images to non-destructively predict seed yield of red clover accessions, by Arno Kasprzak (ILVO) & Michelle Nay (WBF – Agroscope) [slides of the presentation available here]
• Flower Detection in Pea, by Corina Oppliger (ETH) [slides of the presentation available here]

During the session, BELIS Project Coordinator, Bernadette Julier (INRAE) introduced the project, presenting the concept, objectives and partnership, as well as the stakeholder network being established within the BELIS project, highlighting its goals, activities, benefits of joining, and the steps to become a member [slides of the presentation available here].

The video of the session is available below.