Te team has already released six new drought-tolerant varieties from previous project phases including two bermudagrasses (‘TifTuf’ and ‘Tahoma 31’), two St. Augustine grasses (‘TamStar’ and ‘CitraBlue’), and two forthcoming zoysiagrass varieties.
With tangible success already, what will the next research phase include? More trials with new avenues to share and test them. Plant breeding is a long-range game, 10-15 years in most cases. Te group has already evaluated over 2,500 potential varieties in their nine years together. Now Milla-Lewis and team are intent on warping this speed with new technology.
Tackling Turfgrass Technology
Te group’s next phase of research will integrate tech specialists using drones and remote sensing devices to provide real-time feedback on plant stress—a plant breeder’s dream. But how does a robot sense plant stress?
Drones equipped with specialized sensors will be programmed to fly missions over the test plots to detect changes in turf color, ideally even before visible to the human eye. By measuring color change over time resulting from turf stress, researchers can rank the highest performers and concentrate on those showing the greatest genetic potential.
Technology also brings objectivity to plant breeding. Instead of researchers assigning a visual grade of 1-9 on turfgrass color, the drone sensors capture a binary “stress/no stress” assessment. It’s black or white—or brown or green in this case. Removing human bias will result in standardized scoring—important when measurements are taken across hundreds of plots at each of the collaborating universities. Because who’s to say someone’s turf score of a 6 in Raleigh is the same 6 as someone’s in Texas?
Using autonomous data collection, breeders can measure more traits, evaluate more trials—and even more varieties at a time. Increasing the volume of data generated in a short timeframe speeds the plant breeding process by weeding out low performing options. Researchers call it ‘high throughput phenotyping” and it promises to deliver fast feedback for a streamlined selection funnel. Greater testing volume into the research pipeline means better outcomes with the most resilient samples.
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Consumer Education
Despite the team’s field research success, Milla-Lewis’s group recognized that improved varieties can’t deliver their inherent benefits if end users don’t adapt their lawn care. So the project’s phase III incorporates a significant extension and consumer outreach plan spearheaded by Jason Peake at the University of Georgia.
Te nationwide campaign will include broadcast media, a consumer decision tool website, and printed marketing pieces all aimed at educating consumers on why they should choose a drought-tolerant grass and, importantly, how to properly manage it to reap all the benefits. After all, a new lawn doesn’t come with a care tag.
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Pennington Seed has committed to the research and development of Water Star®
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CUSTOM SEED MIXES Pennington has the experience necessary to blend a seed mixture that is suited specifically for your region.
NEXGEN TURF RESEARCH Pennington is one of the only seed companies with its own research and development facility.
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