High-Throughput Phenotyping of Faba Bean Crop Using Remote Sensing Technologies and Data Analytics: A Systematic Assessment of Status and Trends Over Past Decade

Abstract

Abstract Faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) is a widely cultivated legume in temperate regions, valued for human consumption, animal feed, hay production, and as a cover crop. Improving faba bean productivity requires accurate characterization of morphological and physiological traits that govern crop performance and yield. Although conventional phenotyping methods are available, they are often constrained by high cost, limited accuracy, and insufficient spatial and temporal coverage. In recent years, high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) approaches have shown potential to overcome these limitations. HTP integrates sensors, unoccupied aerial and ground vehicles, and imaging systems to enable rapid, and non-destructive monitoring of crop traits at high spatiotemporal resolution. Despite increasing adoption of HTP, no study has comprehensively compared and synthesized these methods for faba beans, therefore is the goal of this study with emphasis on advanced sensing and data analytics including machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL). A systematic evaluation of 24 peer-reviewed articles from an initial pool of 381 publications between 2015 and 2025, identified research trends, performance benchmarks, and integration challenges with HTP-based faba bean characterization. Substantial increase in faba bean HTP studies has been noted after 2021, with ML approaches dominating current applications (37.5%). Most studies have relied on small datasets, single-season experiments, and limited environmental variability, restricting model robustness and scalability. Such limitations, research gaps, and future directions are also outlined to support reliable, and scalable phenotyping for improved faba bean production.

Plant phenotyping relevance

ソラマメの高スループット表現型解析手法を体系的に比較・評価し、センサー、画像、UAV・地上車両、データ解析の性能と課題を扱う方法論レビューである。

Code and data availability

This is a review article synthesizing 24 prior studies on faba bean high-throughput phenotyping. The supplied blocks contain no paper-specific phenotype datasets, images, sensor data, analysis code, models, or supplements; no data or code availability statement appears, and all cited datasets/models belong to prior, un

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