Pheno-App 2.0 – a mobile app for collecting phenotypic data in plant research

Documenting plant phenotypic data in the field is a common task necessary for the preservation of crop plant biodiversity in genebanks. Today, mobile applications are used to record data more efficiently and avoid errors. The Pheno-App is an open-source Android application developed to facilitate digital recording of plant phenotypic data at the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) in Quedlinburg. Designed for tablets and smartphones, the application features customizable trials based on Excel formats, allowing both manual editing and machine processing. One major challenge in collecting phenotypic data during regeneration of plant genetic resources (PGR) in a genebank such as IPK is the diversity of crops and the many traits to record. To make the Pheno-App usable for specific genebank work, corresponding requirements were collected and implemented. The latest version, Pheno-App 2.0, is being developed at the IPK. Major advances over the original version include the ability to apply crop-specific trait sets within a single trial and efficiently input multiple observations per time point, such as percentage characterisations for population traits. These developments make Pheno-App 2.0 a versatile, evolving tool for genebank experts in conservation and characterisation of PGRs.