Plants are affected by complex genome×environment×management interactions which determine phenotypic plasticity as a result of the variability of genetic components. Whereas great advances have been made in the cost-efficient and high-throughput analyses of genetic information and non-invasive phenotyping, the large-scale analyses of the underlying physiological mechanisms lag behind. The external phenotype is determined by the sum of the complex interactions of metabolic pathways and intracellular regulatory networks that is reflected in an internal, physiological, and biochemical phenotype. These various scales of dynamic physiological responses need to be considered, and genotyping and external phenotyping should be linked to the physiology at the cellular and tissue level. A high-dimensional physiological phenotyping across scales is needed that integrates the precise characterization of the internal phenotype into high-throughput phenotyping of whole plants and canopies. By this means, complex traits can be broken down into individual components of physiological traits. Since the higher resolution of physiological phenotyping by ‘wet chemistry’ is inherently limited in throughput, high-throughput non-invasive phenotyping needs to be validated and verified across scales to be used as proxy for the underlying processes. Armed with this interdisciplinary and multidimensional phenomics approach, plant physiology, non-invasive phenotyping, and functional genomics will complement each other, ultimately enabling the in silico assessment of responses under defined environments with advanced crop models. This will allow generation of robust physiological predictors also for complex traits to bridge the knowledge gap between genotype and phenotype for applications in breeding, precision farming, and basic research.

The developments of information and automation technologies have opened a new era for weed management to fit physical and chemical control treatments to the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of weed distributions in agricultural fields. This review describes the technologies of site‐specific weed management (SSWM) systems, evaluates their ecological and economic benefits and gives a perspective for the implementation in practical farming. Sensor technologies including 3D cameras, multispectral imaging and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for weed classification and computer‐based decision algorithms are described in combination with precise spraying and hoeing operations. Those treatments are targeted for patches of weeds or individual weed plants. Cameras can also guide inter‐row hoes precisely in the centre between two crop rows at much higher driving speed. Camera‐guided hoeing increased selectivity and weed control efficacy compared with manual steered hoeing. Robots combine those guiding systems with in‐row hoeing or spot spraying systems that can selectively control individual weeds within crop rows. Results with patch spraying show at least 50% saving of herbicides in various crops without causing additional costs for weed control in the following years. A challenge with these technologies is the interoperability of sensing and controllers. Most of the current SSWM technologies use their own IT protocols that do not allow connecting different sensors and implements. Plug & play standards for linking detection, decision making and weeding would improve the adoption of new SSWM technologies and reduce operational costs. An important impact of SSWM is the potential contribution to the EU‐Green Deal targets to reduce pesticide use and increase biodiversity. However, further on‐farm research is needed for integrating those technologies into agricultural practice.