Plant Disease Sensing: Studying Plant-Pathogen Interactions at Scale

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Plant Pathology
• Remote Sensing

Background:

• Plant diseases cause significant global economic losses ($220 billion annually) and threaten agricultural sustainability.
• Current methods for disease detection and monitoring are insufficient to meet the demands of modern agriculture.
• Early detection and precise monitoring are crucial for preventing crop loss and optimizing resource use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a perspective on the current state and future of plant disease sensing.
• To highlight challenges and gaps in fundamental research and field applications.
• To present a vision for advancing plant disease sensing in global agriculture.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of the current literature on plant disease sensing.
• Analysis of the potential of proximal and remote sensing technologies.
• Discussion of multiscale surveillance networks and agricultural systems biology.

Main Results:

• Plant disease sensing offers revolutionary potential for early warning, alert, and response systems.
• The discipline enables monitoring at unprecedented resolutions and integrates with agricultural systems biology.
• Significant challenges remain in both fundamental research and practical field applications.

Conclusions:

• Plant disease sensing is a critical, yet underdeveloped, field with immense promise for agriculture.
• Addressing current gaps is essential to realize the full potential of sensing technologies for disease management.
• A forward-looking vision is needed to guide the development and implementation of global plant disease surveillance networks.