Deep learning-based methods for phenotypic trait extraction in rice panicles

Introduction: Key rice panicle traits (grain number, panicle length, grain dimensions, maturity) determine yield and quality, and high-precision/high-throughput measurement is critical for rice breeding. Traditional methods are. Methods: A dataset of 5300 rice panicle images (loose/normal/dense types; milk/dough/full maturity/over-ripe stages) was constructed, with 3290 for training, 940 for validation, and 470 for testing. A deep learning pipeline integrating. Results: The panicle length extraction achieved R²=0.9583, RMSE=5.69 mm. Grain counting R² values were 0.9799 (loose), 0.9551 (normal), 0.9278 (dense). Grain length R²=0.8823, grain width MAPE=6.64%. OPG-YOLOv8. Discussion: This study provides a comprehensive, automated tool for rice panicle phenotyping, addressing occlusion challenges and bridging the gap between advanced models and breeding applications.