Microplot extraction (PE) is a necessary image processing step in unmanned aerial vehicle- (UAV-) based research on breeding fields. At present, it is manually using ArcGIS, QGIS, or other GIS-based software, but achieving the desired accuracy is time-consuming. We therefore developed an intuitive, easy-to-use semiautomatic program for MPE called Easy MPE to enable researchers and others to access reliable plot data UAV images of whole fields under variable field conditions. The program uses four major steps: (1) binary segmentation, (2) microplot extraction, (3) production of ∗.shp files to enable further file manipulation, and (4) projection of individual microplots generated from the orthomosaic back onto the raw aerial UAV images to preserve the image quality. Crop rows were successfully identified in all trial fields. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated by calculating the intersection-over-union (IOU) ratio between microplots determined manually and by Easy MPE: the average IOU (±SD) of all trials was 91% (±3).

26Microplot extraction (MPE) is a necessary image-processing step in unmanned aerial vehicle 27 (UAV)-based research on breeding fields. At present, it is manually using ArcGIS, QGIS or 28 other GIS-based software, but achieving the desired accuracy is time-consuming. We therefore 29 developed an intuitive, easy-to-use semi-automatic program for MPE called Easy MPE to 30 enable researchers and others to access reliable plot data UAV images of whole fields under 31 variable field conditions. The program uses four major steps: (1). Binary segmentation, (2). 32