Robotic innovation and digital phenotyping in crop protection for tropical and subtropical agriculture

The field of intelligent crop protection is rapidly evolving, particularly within tropical and subtropical agricultural systems, where the challenges of pest pressure, disease outbreaks, and abiotic stresses are heightened by high humidity, complex terrain, and continuous biological activity. Traditional crop protection methods often fall short in these regions due to their inability to provide precise, scalable, and timely interventions. Recent evidence highlights the transformative power of intelligent equipment, integrated robotic perception, and digital phenotyping, with research showcasing impressive outcomes such as early disease detection, real-time stress assessment, and site-specific pest monitoring. Notably, systems combining UAVs, ground robotics, LiDAR, hyperspectral imaging, and collaborative air–space–ground sensing have enabled breakthroughs in crop health monitoring and intervention. However, despite a growing body of studies, significant gaps remain regarding the deployment and integration of these technologies at scale, the adaptation to the unpredictability of tropical environments, and standardization in data utilization and benchmarking. A deeper understanding of how these cutting-edge technologies can be harnessed to solve real-world plant health issues is critically needed.This Research Topic aims to catalyze the advancement of next-generation technologies and engineering strategies for sustainable, intelligent crop protection tailored to tropical and subtropical crops. The objective is to explore how innovations in robotics, multimodal sensing, and digital phenotyping can be synergized to elevate pest and disease detection, precision spraying, and adaptive decision-making across all stages of crop production. We seek answers to key questions, including how to optimize multi-robot collaboration in complex conditions, how to effectively deploy and integrate multi-source sensing data, and how digital twins and phenomics can inform practical phytoprotection strategies. Efforts bridging engineering ingenuity with actionable plant protection, as well as scalable, data-driven frameworks and robust benchmarking practices, are particularly encouraged.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses technological, computational, and system-integration advances that address plant protection and crop health management, with a focus on practical deployment and performance in real-world tropical and subtropical settings. We welcome contributions from both technology developers and plant science practitioners, targeting research and development that translates into applied phytoprotection. To gather further insights in this area, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Intelligent equipment and robotic systems for precision crop protectiono Multi-arm and multi-robot collaborative systems for crop protection tasks under complex field conditionso Air–space–ground collaborative sensing for pest, disease, and crop stress monitoringo UAV-based and proximal sensing technologies for high-throughput plant protection phenotypingo 3D reconstruction, digital phenotyping, and digital twins for crop health monitoring and stress analysiso Multimodal phenomics and genotype–phenotype relationships for disease resistance and stress responseo Multi-source data fusion and intelligent decision-making for crop protection and risk assessmento Open datasets, benchmarking, and technology & code contributions for plant protection applications Topic editors: Zhenhui Zheng, Xirui Zhang, Hongwei Li, Yu Weiguo, Dr Kancheti Mrunalini Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79666/robotic-innovation-and-digital-phenotyping-in-crop-protection-for-tropical-and-subtropical-agriculture