Sustainable agriculture in the era of omics: knowledge-driven crop breeding

The instability of food production caused by global climate change is another great challenge. Since 1880, the earth’s temperature has risen by more than one degree (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/global-temperatures), and the warming rate is becoming more rapid in recent decades, with more frequent extreme climate change including high temperature, drought, and floods. [...]a new breeding scheme is urgently needed to enable sustainable agriculture; including new strategies to develop varieties and crops that have high yield potential, high yield stability, and superior grain quality and nutrition; nevertheless, less consumption of water, fertilizer, and chemicals should also be considered for environmental protection purposes. [...]omics-based association analysis increases mapping resolution to gene level. [...]both genes increased NUE when expression levels were increased. [...]it is possible to over-express them, or manipulate the promoter regions of both genes using CRISPR/Cas9 technology to boost their expression in the elite semi-dwarf varieties, and achieve high-yield in an environmentally friendly manner (Fig. 2a, b).