Emerging Wearable Sensors for Plant Health Monitoring

TLDR

Emerging plant diseases from pathogens, pests, and climate change threaten ecosystems and human life, while wearable electronics—recently advanced for human health—are only now being explored in agriculture and plant science. This perspective summarizes recent progress in wearable plant sensors—categorized by growth, physiology, microclimate, chemical, and multifunctional functions—and outlines challenges and future directions to mitigate crop loss from biotic and abiotic stresses. Wearable plant sensors are affixed to leaves and stems to profile trait biomarkers and microenvironmental parameters, converting biotic signals into electrical readouts for data analytics, and their designs are tailored to address precision agriculture challenges. The review identifies key challenges and future perspectives for developing wearable plant sensors.

Abstract

Abstract Emerging plant diseases, caused by pathogens, pests, and climate change, are critical threats to not only the natural ecosystem but also human life. To mitigate crop loss due to various biotic and abiotic stresses, new sensor technologies to monitor plant health, predict, and track plant diseases in real time are desired. Wearable electronics have recently been developed for human health monitoring. However, the application of wearable electronics to agriculture and plant science is in its infancy. Wearable technologies mean that the sensors will be directly placed on the surfaces of plant organs such as leaves and stems. The sensors are designed to detect the status of plant health by profiling various trait biomarkers and microenvironmental parameters, transducing bio‐signals to electric readout for data analytics. In this perspective, the recent progress in wearable plant sensors is summarized and they are categorized by the functionality, namely plant growth sensors, physiology, and microclimate sensors, chemical sensors, and multifunctional sensors. The design and mechanism of each type of wearable sensors are discussed and their applications to address the current challenges of precision agriculture are highlighted. Finally, challenges and perspectives for the future development of wearable plant sensors are presented.