Food and nutritional security will remain a major challenge in coming years because of climate change and growing population. Dual objectives to achieve zero-hunger and sustainable food production practices will require innovative crop improvement strategies and agricultural practices. Heterosis breeding and hybrid seed production programmes rely on male sterile phenotype which forces allogamy or outcrossing and prevents self-pollination. Male sterile phenotype manifests due to a range of genetic, environmental, and developmental factors. Until now, the most widely used male sterile system is based on nuclear-cytoplasmic incompatibility (CMS system) that has been successfully deployed in crops for heterosis breeding. The cytoplasmic male sterile system has limitations in wide applicability and has been deployed only in a handful of crops because of the following major reasons (i) poor translation of knowledge from model plants to crop species, (ii) variability in stamen structures across species, and, (iii) diversity in mating models and out-crossing strategies in plants. A detailed understanding of stamen development pathway including ontogeny and regulatory network across a variety of crops is critical to devise innovative strategies for promoting outcrossing for heterosis breeding. For example, molecular genetic regulation of spatio-temporal control and crosstalks in tapetum development, endothecial wall thickening, pollen wall patterning, filament development and elongation, water and nutrient transport need to be understood. The knowledge and information gained can be deployed not only to induce sterility but also develop male fertile restorer lines. The power of such approaches, either in isolation, or in combination, has not been fully explored in crop species. This lack of information and knowledge opens a rich field of investigative pursuits. The knowledge gained can be deployed to devise novel heterosis breeding and crop improvement strategies by harnessing power of technologies such as precise genome editing, single-cell genomics, and molecular breeding.