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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDAgriculture & Food Security

Breeding drought-tolerant crops for sustainable agriculture

  • Ali Raza1,2
  • Sidra Charagh3
  • Kadambot H. M. Siddique4
  • C. S. Prakash5
  • P. V. Vara Prasad6,7
  • R.J. Harper8
  • Vasileios Fotopoulos9
  • Zhangli Hu1,2
  • Rajeev Kumar Varshney8
9 affiliations
  1. 1Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Epigenetics, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
  2. 2Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for Marine Algal Biotechnology, Guangdong Technology Research Center for Marine Algal Biotechnology, Longhua Innovation Institute for Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
  3. 3State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Hangzhou, 310006, China
  4. 4The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, 6009, Australia
  5. 5College of Arts & Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL, 36088, USA
  6. 6Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
  7. 7Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research On Sustainable Intensification, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA
  8. 8WA State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Centre for Crop and Food Innovation, Food Futures Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, 6150, Australia
  9. 9Department of Agricultural Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology, Biotechnology & Food Science, 3036, Lemesos, Cyprus
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Abstract

With the escalating impacts of climate change, drought stress (DS) is significantly decreasing water accessibility and availability, causing substantial direct and indirect economic repercussions within agricultural systems. Addressing the needs of a growing global population necessitates urgent advancements in breeding DS-tolerant crops while maintaining high yields. This urgency demands a fast and adaptable defensive strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of DS on crop productivity. Accelerating such developments requires leveraging advanced omics-assisted breeding (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), genetic engineering (e.g., transgenic technology, and genome editing), machine learning, precise phenotyping, crop wild relatives, and speed breeding. These fast-forward methods present highly promising avenues for the design of future crops that can withstand DS pressures. In summary, we propose an innovative approach termed the “OGS trio,” which encompasses omics integration, genetic engineering, and speed breeding. This trio stands composed to transform efforts against DS, offering significant potential for developing drought-tolerant crops to achieve and food security amidst climate change.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{raza2026breeding,
  title = {{Breeding drought-tolerant crops for sustainable agriculture}},
  author = {Ali Raza and Sidra Charagh and Kadambot H. M. Siddique and C. S. Prakash and P. V. Vara Prasad and R.J. Harper and Vasileios Fotopoulos and Zhangli Hu and Rajeev Kumar Varshney},
  journal = {Agriculture \& Food Security},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1186/s40066-025-00587-4},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-025-00587-4},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Breeding drought-tolerant crops for sustainable agriculture
AU  - Ali Raza
AU  - Sidra Charagh
AU  - Kadambot H. M. Siddique
AU  - C. S. Prakash
AU  - P. V. Vara Prasad
AU  - R.J. Harper
AU  - Vasileios Fotopoulos
AU  - Zhangli Hu
AU  - Rajeev Kumar Varshney
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/02
JO  - Agriculture & Food Security
DO  - 10.1186/s40066-025-00587-4
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-025-00587-4
AB  - With the escalating impacts of climate change, drought stress (DS) is significantly decreasing water accessibility and availability, causing substantial direct and indirect economic repercussions within agricultural systems. Addressing the needs of a growing global population necessitates urgent advancements in breeding DS-tolerant crops while maintaining high yields. This urgency demands a fast and adaptable defensive strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of DS on crop productivity. Accelerating such developments requires leveraging advanced omics-assisted breeding (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), genetic engineering (e.g., transgenic technology, and genome editing), machine learning, precise phenotyping, crop wild relatives, and speed breeding. These fast-forward methods present highly promising avenues for the design of future crops that can withstand DS pressures. In summary, we propose an innovative approach termed the “OGS trio,” which encompasses omics integration, genetic engineering, and speed breeding. This trio stands composed to transform efforts against DS, offering significant potential for developing drought-tolerant crops to achieve and food security amidst climate change.
SN  - 2048-7010
ER  -