AUTHOR=Zhang Fucheng , Li Denghua , Li Ganqiong , Xu Shiwei TITLE=New horizons in smart plant sensors: key technologies, applications, and prospects JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024 YEAR=2025 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1490801 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2024.1490801 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=As the source of data acquisition, sensors provide basic data support for crop planting decision management and play a foundational role in developing smart planting. Accurate, stable, and deployable on-site sensors make intelligent monitoring of various planting scenarios possible. Recent breakthroughs in plant advanced sensors and the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI) have driven sensors towards miniaturization, intelligence, and multi-modality. This review outlines the key technologies in developing new advanced sensors, such as micro-nano technology, flexible electronics technology, and micro-electromechanical system technology. The latest technological frontiers and development trends in sensor principles, fabrication processes, and performance parameters in soil and different segmented crop scenarios are systematically expounded. Finally, future opportunities, challenges, and prospects are discussed. We anticipate that introducing advanced technologies like nanotechnology and AI will rapidly and radically revolutionize the accuracy and intelligence of agricultural sensors, leading to new levels of innovation.