Report on adjusting a high throughput screening tool to support water use phenotyping in forages

Drought severely limits forage productivity. The avoidance of water deficit by increasing the capacity for water uptake or by controlling water loss are common responses. A fine interplay exists between the acquisition of water by roots in drying soil and water loss through transpiration. These two components tend to act simultaneously. The following approach and aim is therefore to provide information of shoot development, root development and water use over time of plants growing under greenhouse conditions with soil from target sites. Greenhouse studies is a vital part of phenotyping for drought conditions as allow the recording of responses that would be otherwise impossible under filed conditions.