Neutralising Climate Change Through Fruit Crops

Abstract

The fruit crops with an extended life cycle face several difficulties associated with stress. Intriguingly, the fruit crops with a short life cycle show a wider capability of adaptation without confronting many stresses of climate change. All the fruit crops possess temperature optima to cruise through proper growth and development. Fruit crops representing temperate, tropical and sub-tropical regions are affected by climate change to varying proportions, especially the temperate fruit crops due to non-fulfilment of the chilling requirement for optimum flowering, showing a rise in temperature as an important determinant. The other factors are upsurge in CO₂ concentration, change in rainfall pattern leading to very often extreme events and casing unavailability of irrigation water, frequent attack by pests and diseases (emergence of new pests and diseases), frequent recurrence in physiological disorders, low-quality fruit, unavailability of compatible cultivars and multiple nutrient deficiencies affecting both nutrient carrying capacity of fruit crops and soils as well. Anintegrated breeding approach such as integrated phenotyping and genotyping are prerequisites for assessing the impact of variedstresses, responsible for the non-performance of fruit crops in such changing climate. The fruit crops could be made tolerant to the stresses in case unmapped scion and, techniques associated with genome sequencing, quick mapping traits, gene editing through biotechnological methods, phenotyping at a faster rate, and efficient putative genes are integrated using multi-omics techniques, in addition to some cultural practices.