Root mixture analysis: methods and vision

Supporting sustainable agriculture requires a deeper understanding of belowground interactions under diversified crop mixtures. Current tools do not allow differentiation of root species without destructive sampling. This makes the study of crop mixtures and their belowground interactions laborious, leading to a reduction in the scale of research. On the basis of our in-depth review, there is an urgent need for standardized, cost-effective methods for root phenotyping, particularly under field conditions where high variability and logistical difficulties are common. Physicochemical root traits related to root function offer distinctive markers that can represent a species' identity. Processing and analyzing such a unique root data type with optimized deep learning and machine learning can lead to high-throughput root mixture analysis.