When acquired both in optical and thermal infrared domain, remotely sensed data can provide a wide range of information about the status of a crop. Several studies have demonstrated the utility of such information for the development of stress indices that can be related to water, nitrogen or global physiological status of the plant. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between crop biophysical parameters (LAI, SPAD, Humidity) and two airborne-derived spectral indices (NDVI: Normalized Vegetation Index, and CSI: Crop Stress Index) under different agricultural practices in terms of water treatment, nitrogen input and cultivar for sugarcane crop. We then discuss of the potentialities of the combined use of these two indices for a better understanding of crop status.