Next-Generation Breeding Approaches for Stress Resilience in Cereals: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

Cereals have predominantly been used as a staple food since time immemorial and contribute more than 50% caloric requirement of the global population. By 2050, an increase of 70–100% in the cereal food supply is needed to feed the predicted 9.8 billion world population. However, globally, cereal productivity is adversely affected by numerous stresses, viz. droughts, waterlogging, cold and heat waves, insects, pests, and diseases. Further, climate change exacerbates biotic and abiotic stresses in cereal production systems. Depending on the crop growth stage and stress sensitivity, these stresses result in yield losses up to a cent per cent in cereals. Therefore, feeding and nourishing the generations in the era of climate change demands the development of stress-resilient cereal cultivars. Though numerous attempts were made in the pre-genomic era to improve cereal yield potential through conventional breeding techniques, the degree of success was less due to genetic instability, narrow genetic base, and non-availability of genes for tolerance/resistance in the germplasm. In the twenty-first century, we have now reached the ‘genomics and editing’ stage from the ‘Mendelian era’ of the nineteenth century. Additionally, with the integration of novel genomics, the next-generation plant breeding approaches are changing the course of plant breeding via understanding the genetics of traits and accelerating the genetic gain. Newly developed next-generation breeding tools, viz. genome-wide association studies, genomic prediction, genome editing, and accelerated generation advancement methodologies, showed promising results by enhancing the stress resilience in cereals with high yield potential. This introductory chapter aims to provide an overview of targeted next-generation breeding tools for enhancing stress resilience in cereals in the present context of climate change, pests, diseases, and abiotic stresses.