**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** FINDING NOVEL GENETIC TARGETS TO IMPROVE CROP YIELDS AND MAINTAIN QUALITY IS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT AS PLANT BREEDERS RACE TO KEEP UP INCREASINGLY UNPREDICTABLE CLIMATES, RISING COSTS OF AGRICULTURAL INPUTS, AND THE NEED TO CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCES. THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON TWO THEMES TOWARDS ACCELERATING PLANT BREEDING EFFORTS: 1) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW APPROACHES FOR CHARACTERIZING PLANT TRAITS FROM HIGH RESOLUTION DRONE IMAGERY AND 2) LEVERAGING MACHINE LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO IDENTIFY GENES IMPORTANT FOR IMPROVED CROP PERFORMANCE UNDER LOW INPUT ENVIRONMENTS. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE WHETHER GENOME ASSOCIATIONS WITH MULTIPLE IMAGES, INSTEAD OF JUST A SINGLE IMAGE, COULD HELP REVEAL NOVEL TARGETS FOR GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF RICE, A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT STAPLE FOOD. RICE PRODUCTION CAN HAVE OUTSIZED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS DUE TO WATER-INTENSIVE CULTIVATION SYSTEMS AND GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, AND SO DEVELOPMENT OF VARIETIES THAT PERFORM WELL UNDER LOW-INPUT CONDITIONS IS A TOP PRIORITY. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL DETERMINE WHETHER GENETIC VARIANTS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED NITROGEN AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY COULD BE DETERMINED FROM EXISTING ECOLOGICAL AND GENOMIC DATASETS. OUR MODEL PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP CONTRIBUTES TO THE NATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE INITIATIVE THROUGH ITS FOCUS ON INCREASING CROP YIELDS WHILE CONSERVING NATURAL RESOURCES, AND CONTRIBUTES TO THE DESIGN AND VALIDATION OF NOVEL METHODS FOR ANALYSIS AND INTEGRATION OF BIG AGRICULTURAL DATA, ONE OF THE TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE DATA SCIENCE FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS PROGRAM AREA.DEVELOPMENT OF RICE VARIETIES WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE UNDER LOW WATER INPUT MANAGEMENT CONDITIONS WILL HELP TO CONSERVE FRESHWATER RESOURCES IN THE FACE OF INCREASING WATER SCARCITY. ADDITIONALLY, REDUCING FERTILIZER INPUTS THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF NITROGEN-EFFICIENT RICE VARIETIES AND PRECISION MANAGEMENT TOOLS WILL REDUCE NUTRIENT POLLUTION AND DECREASE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN WATER-LIMITED RICE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. REDUCED INPUT COSTS FOR IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZER WILL TRANSLATE TO IMPROVED ECONOMIC VIABILITY FOR RICE PRODUCTION, AS COSTS FOR NITROGEN AND WATER INPUTS CONTINUE TO RISE. BEYOND RICE, OUR APPROACH TO IDENTIFYING GENES ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED INPUTS IN MODERN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS COULD BE BROADLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER CROPS AND SYSTEMS.