Editorial: Advancement in photonic sensing for abiotic stress management in horticultural and plant nursery sectors

The horticultural and plant nursery sectors encompass highly diverse production systems, ranging from openfield cultivation to protected environments, such as greenhouses and soilless systems. In this context, abiotic stresses compromise crop quality and ornamental value (Hayat et al., 2023), increasing the need for sustainable solutions for growers.Agronomic practices are evolving towards approaches that enhance resilience while minimizing environmental impacts. Plant breeding, the use of bioactive compounds and beneficial microorganisms, and advances in plant physiology are contributing to mitigating abiotic stress. Moreover, precision agriculture is playing an increasingly relevant role through the real-time monitoring of environmental conditions and plant health, allowing prompt interventions to protect crops.Despite the growing availability of decision support systems, their adoption by growers is often constrained by high costs and insufficient knowledge transfer. In this sense, further research and field-scale studies are essential to enhance the practical application of these technologies.Photonic sensing is transforming how plant stress is monitored and managed in horticulture and nursery systems, enabling precision practices that optimize resource use and enhance crop productivity. As technology advances and becomes more affordable, its role in precision agriculture is increasingly relevant.Leaf-clip optical sensors such as SPAD and Dualex, as well as portable spectrometers and fluorometers, gas-exchange devices, and LAI meters, have long provided rapid assessment of leaf physiology by measuring foliar metabolites, photosynthetic efficiency, and canopy structure, respectively. These tools support the diagnosis of nutrient deficiencies, water stress, and photoinhibition in operational production settings. Recent advances in photonic technologies are expanding these capabilities. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) allows the internal tissue imaging, revealing early stress-induced anatomical changes in plants. Portable Raman spectroscopy allows non-destructive detection of biochemical markers (i.e., pigments and stress-related compounds). In parallel, multispectral and hyperspectral imaging combined with 3D techniques enhance whole-plant phenotyping. Integrated RGB and thermal imaging provides spatial information on chlorophyll distribution, water-use efficiency, temperature, and canopy architecture. These approaches bridge the gap between point-based measurements and crop-scale monitoring, enabling continuous plant stress assessment.The integration of established sensors with cutting-edge photonic imaging provides a robust framework for early stress detection and precision management. This Research Topic gathers 8 Original Research papers exploring plant adaptive responses using several photonic technologies, highlighting the value of combining proximal and remote approaches with advanced analytics to improve resource-use efficiency and crop performance under stress. Novel OCT techniques enable micrometer-scale imaging of living tissues (Bouma et al., 2022). (i.e., chlorophylls, carotenoids, polyphenols, etc.). Strong correlations with tissue nitrogen content highlighted the value of integrating these techniques for improving nutrient stress assessment.