Central to food security is the production of cereals to meet the needs of an increasing population and the demand for animal feed and biofuels. One of its challenges is climate change, which causes abiotic and biotic stress in cereals, affecting growth and yield. Using positron emission tomography, the EU-funded PETAL project will measure the early changes of CO2 metabolism and water transport caused by stress in wheat. The project’s work will result in a unique data set that will be analysed to define a new set of measurable quantities affected by stress at the early stage of plant development. Following this, a platform providing services for the early analysis of wheat growth in agriculture will be generated.