Integrated Puncture Score: force-displacement weighted rind penetration tests improve stalk lodging resistance estimations in maize.

This study presents a new method for evaluating rind penetration resistance that highly correlates with stalk bending strength and can possibly be used as a breeding index for assessing stalk lodging resistance. This research lays the foundation required to develop a field-based high-throughput phenotyping device for stalk lodging resistance.