Reducing heat stress damage in cereal crops through agronomic management and breeding strategies

Abstract

Global climate change escalates the impact of heat stress (HS) and subsequent drought stress on plant species, causing significant yield loss in cereal crops. Approaches to alleviate these detrimental effects include proper agronomic practices and development of HS-tolerant cultivars. In this review, we critically assess the strength and drawback of current agronomic management strategies such as adjusting sowing time, managing water and nutrients, and applying growth modulating agents and nano-biochar, to mitigate detrimental effects of HS on plant performance. Development of climate-resilient cereal crop through quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, marker assisted selection, marker assisted backcrossing, and gene editing strategies has been exploited. Due to the limitations in agronomic management-based approaches, molecular breeding techniques for HS tolerant are considered more appropriate and effective mitigation approaches. However, with HS tolerance being a complex trait, breeding heat tolerant cultivars still face several challenges in cereal crops. Our review emphasizes the integration of different breeding approaches for developing heat tolerant cultivars as well as inclusion of efficient and modified agronomic management strategies for reducing the HS-induced damages in cereal crops. Overall, this work highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with agronomic and breeding approaches, emphasising the need for further research to optimise mitigation strategies for combined heat and drought stresses, and ensure sustainable cereal production under combined abiotic stresses.