Image analysis has become a powerful technique for most plant scientists. In recent years dozens of image analysis tools have been published in plant science journals. These tools cover the full spectrum of plant scales, from single cells to organs and canopies. However, the field of plant image analysis remains in its infancy. It still has to overcome important challenges, such as the lack of robust validation practices or the absence of long-term support. In this Opinion article, I: (i) present the current state of the field, based on data from the plant-image-analysis.org database; (ii) identify the challenges faced by its community; and (iii) propose workable ways of improvement.

对于大多数植物科学家而言，图像分析已成为一种强大的技术。近年来，许多图像分析工具已经在植物科学期刊上发表。这些工具涵盖了从单个细胞到器官和冠层的整个植物规模。但是，植物图像分析领域仍处于起步阶段。它仍然必须克服重要的挑战，例如缺乏可靠的验证实践或缺乏长期支持。在本《意见》文章中，我：（i）根据plant-image-analysis.org数据库中的数据介绍该领域的当前状态；（ii）确定其社区面临的挑战；（iii）提出可行的改进方法。