Abiotic Stress-Tolerant Crop Varieties in India: Status and a Way Forward

Abstract

The abiotic stresses, such as drought, waterlogging, heat, cold, and salinity, cause significant crop yield losses associated with extremes of moisture and temperature and ion imbalance. The occurrence of these conditions is being aggravated by climate change, global warming, and industrial pollution. It is crucial to safeguard food security through a constant and sustainable crop production system under multiple abiotic stresses. The cultivation of climate-resilient varieties is one of the best strategies being followed across diverse agroecosystems in the world including India to mitigate the impact of abiotic stress on crop production. Indian agricultural institutional network under the umbrella of the National Agriculture Research System developed a good number of abiotic stress-tolerant varieties across the field and horticultural crops. However, only a few crops’ varieties’ introgression with SUB1 gene and salinity tolerant QTLs are being cultivated largely in the areas prone to submergence and salinity stress, respectively. In this book chapter, we have updated the status of abiotic stress tolerance crop varieties (ASTCVs) along with stress-wise trend analysis to disseminate information among farmers, students, scientists, and policymakers involved in abiotic stress management. Finally, we also discussed the strategies to reorient the breeding program to develop climate-smart varieties with multiple biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.