Advances in Plant Phenotyping for Climate-Resilient Oilseeds Breeding
摘要
The effect of climate change on agriculture is pronounced, as it frequently manifests through a cascade of extreme weather phenomena, encompassing severe droughts, devastating floods, scorching heat waves, powerful cyclones, and unpredictable precipitation patterns. It became more challenging for the increasing global population’s food security and nutritional demand, which is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Oilseeds, a diverse and economically valuable group of crops, are grown under diverse agroecological conditions in India, encompassing both edible (e.g., groundnut, rapeseed, mustard, soybean, sesame, sunflower, safflower, and Niger) and nonedible (castor and linseed) oilseeds. The breeding of oilseed crops predominantly involves the evaluation of morpho-physiological characteristics, crop yield-related attributes, oil quantity and quality, and the elimination of harmful substances, all aimed at selecting and developing commercially viable hybrids and varieties. Traditional breeding methods are known for being time and labor-intensive. High-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP) technologies enable the quantification of plant characteristics with rapid and accurate measurement across a large population of plants in different environmental conditions. HTPP actively enhances climate-resilient oilseed breeding with robust tolerance to abiotic stresses like drought, heat stress, and salinity. It facilitates in-depth genetic investigations of climate tolerance traits within oilseeds, supporting the development of innovative breeding strategies tailored to enhance climate resilience in these crops. For genetic improvement of oilseed crops in terms of high oil production, quality enhancement, fine-tuning fatty acid compositions, and resilience against environmental challenges, high-throughput plant phenotyping empowers the breeding process through its capacity to deliver precise and comprehensive insights into the quality-linked traits of oilseed crops.