Smart Breeding for Climate Resilient Agriculture

*Harmeet Singh Bakala, Gurjeet Singh and Puja Srivastava*

## **Abstract**

Human society is at a turning point of its time as climate change is becoming more and more real and inevitable. From rising temperature, which undermines the food production, to melting glaciers, causing disastrous flooding and erosion, the global repercussions of climate change are unprecedented. Plant breeding has always played a pivotal role in human history by revolutionizing agriculture to feed the ever-growing population. It can rescue humankind from imminent threats to agriculture posed by weather fluctuations, rapidly evolving pests and limiting resources. Unlocking the repository of genetic diversity and extensive utilization of wild germplasm invariably is imperative to every crop improvement program. But recent advancements in genomics, high throughput phenomics, sequencing and breeding methodologies along with state-of-the-art genome-editing tools in integration with artificial intelligence open up new doors for accelerated climate-resilient crop improvement. Therefore, holistic smart breeding approaches can be promising way out to tackle climate change and develop better-adapted crop varieties.

**Keywords:** climate resilience, genetic diversity, genomics, artificial intelligence, food security, phenomics, smart breeding

### **1. Introduction**

Land is shrinking but world population is increasing in a rapid phase, so, modern agricultural practice is struggling to meet the level of primary productivity required to feed approximately 10 billion people by 2050 [1]. From last few decades the adverse effects of climate change and higher CO2 concentrations, the consequence of expected impacts on the water-use efficiency of dryland as well as irrigated crop production, potential effects on biosecurity, production, and quality of product through increased the frequency of introduced various abiotic (heat, salinity and drought) and biotic stresses (pests and diseases). In addition, climate change is also expected to cause losses of biodiversity, mainly in more marginal environments. Drought alone is expected to reduce crop productivity in half of the global arable land and it's estimated around 50% in the next five decades [2]. It has been predicted that, on average, global yields of major economic important crops will be reduced by the unfavorable climatic conditions in wheat (6.0%), rice (3.2%), maize (7.4%) and soybean (3.1%) for every degree celsius increase in global mean temperature [3].

Climate resilience is an ability of the plant/crop to survive and recover from the effects of climate change. Some important practices that may help to adapt the climate change are soil organic carbon build up or carbon sequestration, in-situ moisture conservation, residue incorporation instead of burning, water harvesting and recycling for supplemental irrigation, growing biotic and abiotic resistance/tolerant varieties, location specific agronomic and nutrient management and breeding for multiple traits of interest including quality.

Plant Breeding has always played a pivotal role in human history from revolutionizing agriculture to feed the ever-growing population. The key role of plant breeding in agriculture is to develop a genetically superior genotype/variety, which is suitable for a specific as well as general cultivation of particular environment towards higher production [4]. Realizing the importance of genomic resources to expedite the breeding programs, huge amount of genetic data related to genes and QTLs (Quantitative Trait Loci) are generated after the advent of molecular biology and biotechnology [5]. The progress in precise phenotyping and genotyping offers tremendous opportunities to develop crop varieties that are suit for better changing the climatic conditions, which ameliorate in boosting the plant breeding activities for developing climate resilient varieties/cultivars [6]. Hence, development of climate resilient varieties utilizing Smart breeding tools to ensures the food security in adverse climatic conditions.
