Addressing the escalating global demand for food production requires a paradigm shift in optimizing crop yields, making efficient phenotyping a pressing concern. While optical imaging-based phenotyping has significantly advanced plant breeding and crop management, its noncontact approach encounters limitations in spatial resolution and accuracy.
A groundbreaking alternative emerges through the utilization of wearable sensors, employing contact measurement for in-situ monitoring of plant phenotypes and their surrounding environments. Despite early successes in monitoring plant growth and microclimate, the full potential of wearable sensors in plant phenotyping remains largely untapped.
Plant Phenomics published a seminal review article titled “Wearable Sensor: An Emerging Data Collection Tool for Plant Phenotyping.” The comprehensive paper aims to explore the capabilities of wearable sensors in monitoring various plant and environmental factors. It emphasizes their high resolution, multifunctionality, and minimal invasiveness while addressing existing challenges and proposing innovative solutions.
Wearable sensors herald a transformative era in plant phenotyping, overcoming the limitations of traditional noncontact methods like optical imaging. They provide high spatial resolution, multifunctionality, and minimal invasiveness, enabling the measurement of diverse plant phenotypes such as elongation, leaf temperature, hydration, bioelectric potential, and stress response.
Cutting-edge innovations, including stretchable strain sensors and flexible electrode sensors, seamlessly adapt to plant growth and morphology, facilitating real-time, in-situ monitoring.
In contrast to optical imaging, wearable sensors exhibit reduced susceptibility to environmental factors, ensuring more precise data collection. For instance, in leaf temperature and hydration monitoring, these sensors leverage wireless communication and advanced materials for robust and accurate measurements.
Bioelectric potential measurement has seen notable advancements with the introduction of flexible electrode sensors that minimize plant damage and enable continuous monitoring. Detection of stress responses is significantly enhanced through sensors that monitor early signs of diseases or environmental stressors like UV radiation and ozone exposure.
Wearable sensors extend their prowess to environmental monitoring, assessing factors such as air temperature, moisture, light, and pesticide presence. Multimodal sensors mounted on lightweight, stretchable platforms gather real-time data, providing critical insights into the microenvironment affecting plant growth.
While wearable sensors hold great promise in plant phenotyping, they do face challenges, including potential interference with plant growth, weak bonding interfaces, limited signal types, and small monitoring coverage. The review proposes solutions such as incorporating lightweight, soft, stretchable, and transparent materials, along with advanced bonding technologies and the integration of diverse sensing modalities.
As wearable sensor technology continues to evolve, it is poised to play a pivotal role in accelerating plant phenotyping, offering deeper insights into the intricate interactions between plants and their environment. This technological advancement holds the potential to revolutionize agriculture by enhancing our understanding of plant-environment dynamics and, consequently, improving crop productivity.