Harmonizing crop trait data: the Crop Ontology open-source tool

Crop Ontology provides scientists and breeders with a common language that describes crop phenotypes and interprets descriptions provided by farmers for the performance of the varieties they prefer.

To improve crops and adapt them to changing environments, researchers need access to a broader pool of information on plant genetic diversity, which not only explains the interaction between a genotype and its environment, but also identifies its genetic basis and heritability of its adaptive traits.

To address this gap of knowledge, eight CGIAR centres and their national partners developed Crop Ontology.

This open-source tool provides scientists and breeders with a common language that describes crop phenotypes and interprets descriptions provided by farmers for the performance of the varieties they prefer.

Led and developed by bioinformatics experts at Bioversity International, Crop Ontology houses standard lists of crop traits, methods and scales for breeders’ field books and crop information systems.

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