The necessity to breed high-yielding crops has been a common goal of agricultural research across the countries to address global food security. Outcome of persistent efforts made during the last few decades coinciding green revolution is evident from tremendous increase in productivity of crops. However, the recent yield plateau in many of the crops is a matter of concern particularly in the context of predicted adverse effects of climate change. Molecular biology interventions were expected to accelerate the crop improvement by complementing conventional breeding approaches. However, limited success has been achieved so far mainly due to poor prediction of gene function that is crucial for crop performance particularly under field conditions and more so under abiotic stress environments. Despite our enhanced capacity to decipher structure and locations of genes with an access to next generation gene sequencing technology, we are not in a position to carry forward benefits of genomics to farmer’s field. This can be at least partially attributed to phenotyping tools and methods followed to decipher the genes often in simulated environments under controlled conditions. We put forward here a concept with proven example that trait and gene identification by employing appropriate phenomic strategy can be successful if field-lab-field approach rather than lab-to field approach is followed. Further, traits governing the structures and morphology that contribute to better physiology will be more successful rather than physiological traits per se. These approaches can help us in addressing the limitations in our capacity to ensure accurate simulation of the target environment, which is the major determining factor in expression of genes contributing to physiological traits and their interaction.