This book presents a comprehensive overview of innovative approaches to enhance crop performance under abiotic stress conditions, emphasizing advanced physiological, molecular, microbial, and breeding methodologies for sustainable agriculture. It offers an integrated framework for understanding plant adaptive responses to environmental stressors such as drought, salinity, and nutrient deficiencies, supported by recent advancements in high-throughput phenotyping, genotyping, and nano-biotechnology.
The compilation underscores the development of resilient genotypes through insights into complex soil-plant-environment interactions. Economic considerations are also examined, particularly regarding investments in climate-resilient and resource-efficient cropping systems.
Drawing upon farmer narratives, the text bridges scientific research with field-level applications, illustrating the urgency of ensuring global food and nutritional security amid escalating climate challenges. With the global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, this work advocates for interdisciplinary research and innovation to establish climate-smart, multi-stress-tolerant cropping systems. It serves as a valuable resource for researchers, graduate students, agronomists, and professionals in agricultural sciences.
Man-made climate change poses a new crisis: how do we feed 10 billion people in a climate hostile to food security? This book explores the threat to our “daily bread” and argues that we are not without hope, offering solutions that can lead to a better future for humankind.
