Genetic and Genomic Strategies for Developing Climate-Resilient Cereals under Changing Agro-ecological Conditions

Abstract

Climate change and increasing environmental variability represent significant challenges to the sustainability of global cereal production systems. Rising temperatures, erratic precipitation patterns, soil salinisation, flooding events, and the growing incidence of pests and diseases have collectively exerted substantial negative effects on crop productivity, yield stability, and grain nutritional quality. These challenges are expected to intensify under future climate scenarios, thereby threatening global food and nutritional security. Consequently, the development of climate-resilient cereal cultivars has emerged as a critical objective of contemporary crop improvement programmes. This review examines the contributions of genetic diversity, conventional breeding methodologies, molecular breeding techniques, and genomics-assisted approaches to enhancing climate resilience in major cereal crops. Particular emphasis is placed on the exploitation of landraces and wild crop relatives as valuable reservoirs of adaptive traits, as well as on the role of pre-breeding programmes in broadening the genetic base of cultivated germplasm. Furthermore, the review discusses the application of advanced genomic tools, including quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), marker-assisted selection (MAS), genomic selection, speed breeding, and genome-editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas systems, for improving stress tolerance, adaptation to adverse environmental conditions, and yield stability. In addition, the importance of multi-environment testing for the identification of stable and broadly adapted genotypes is highlighted, alongside efforts to enhance grain nutritional quality without compromising agronomic performance. The review also underscores the value of integrated climate-smart breeding strategies that combine phenotypic, genomic, and environmental data to accelerate genetic gain. The convergence of high-throughput phenomics, advanced genomics, molecular breeding technologies, artificial intelligence, and data-driven analytical approaches offers unprecedented opportunities for the rapid development of climate-resilient cereal cultivars capable of maintaining productivity, adaptability, and nutritional quality under increasingly challenging agro-ecological conditions.