The need to improve crops has never been critical with the rising population and climate change resulting in high abiotic stress and disease pressures in production areas. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI)-based approaches have been implemented in the context of plant breeding and crop improvement. Modern AI tools hold the promise of accelerating the development of resilient, higher-yielding, and more sustainable horticultural crops, by rendering a deeper understanding of complex genetic systems and phenotypes, and how these interact with their environment to express desirable traits. As an approach, AI is an important component of the plant breeding toolbox which may now currently be an indispensable addition to modern vegetable breeding programs. For example, AI allows for the prediction of phenotypic values through genetic markers, and this allows plant breeders to perform selection even before the trials are conducted in the field. The ASHS Vegetable Breeding and Interest Group seeks to provide research updates from experts who have worked on the applications of AI in crop breeding and genetic improvement. The workshop will provide a summary of various AI methodologies, recent advances, and render opportunities for future collaboration and research directions in the implementation of AI in vegetable breeding programs. Objectives 1. Summarize the different AI approaches used in breeding and genetic improvement of various traits in vegetables 2. Provide the attendees with recent advances in AI for plant breeding 3. Discuss future research directions and applications of AI in plant breeding programs The workshop will be conducted during the annual ASHS meeting (July 28- August 1, 2025) in New Orleans, Louisiana. The workshop will be in-person. Audience: The workshop will be open to all ASHS attendees (both public and private sectors) and will be interactive.
Moderators: Dennis Lozada, New Mexico State University
Devi Kandel, Langston University
Speakers:
The following speakers were invited and those indicated with (*) have agreed to the invitation.
- Dr. Zhihang Song* (University of Georgia; Accelerating Plant Breeding with Plant Phenotyping Technologies and AI)
- Dr. Mahdi Haghshenas-Jaryani* (New Mexico State University; Autonomous “AI-enabled” Robots for Chile Pepper Precision Farming)
- Dr. Allen Van Deynze (University of California- Davis; TBA)
- Dr. Lirong Xiang (North Carolina State University; TBA)
