Utilizing Genetic Resources for Agronomic Traits Improvement: Series III

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 370

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Agronomy Department, Technical School of Agricultural Engineering, University of Seville, 41013 Seville, Spain
Interests: wheat; genetic resources; leaf rust; history of wheat; history of plant breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environment and Agronomy, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: wheat; genetic resources; quality; yield; core collections
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Unit of Genetics, Department of Biotechnology—Plant Biology, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: wheat; genetic resources; genetic diversity; breeding; QTL detection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following the success of the first and second Special Issue of Agronomy on “Utilizing Genetic Resources for Agronomic Traits Improvement”, we are pleased to announce the launch of the third edition of the Special Issue, in which the same subject and submission process will be maintained.

Plant genetic resources are raw materials for plant breeders. Landraces and wild relatives were and still are used to supply alleles to improve agronomic traits such as dwarfing, resistance to plant pathogenic agents (fungi, bacteria, viruses, parasitic plants, insects, etc.), tolerance to abiotic stresses (heat, drought, salinity, cold, etc.), longer shelf life in fruits, etc. For instance, dwarfing, photoperiod insensitivity, and resistance to rusts have been crucial traits for wheat breeding over the last 60 years. Repeated backcrossing and marker-assisted (and genomic) selection help breeders to transfer those alleles into elite cultivars. The need for new alleles in plant breeding is continuous since new virulent races of plant pathogens arise continuously, global warming requires heat-tolerant genotypes, and the demands of the market (mechanized harvesting, handling, quality, fruit size, etc.) are permanently evolving. In this Special Issue, we aim to publish papers related to the use of plant genetic resources for key agronomic traits in the current plant breeding scenario. The genotypes carrying those traits may be utilized in a breeding program for obtaining a new cultivar.

Dr. Fernando Martinez-Moreno
Dr. Magdalena Ruiz
Dr. Laura Pascual
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • landraces
  • wild relatives
  • breeding for resistance to diseases and pests
  • breeding for quality
  • breeding for climate change

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Review

18 pages, 6336 KB  
Review
Triticale in Mediterranean Cereal Farming: Opportunity or Reality?
by Fernando Martínez-Moreno, Irfan Özberk, Fethiye Özberk and Ignacio Solís
Agronomy 2025, 15(9), 2175; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15092175 - 12 Sep 2025
Viewed by 229
Abstract
Triticale is a cereal that currently has a cultivated global area of approximately 3.8 Mha. It is widely used as a feed and forage crop. Although winter triticale cultivars are planted in Poland, Germany and Belarus (the main producers), a significant portion of [...] Read more.
Triticale is a cereal that currently has a cultivated global area of approximately 3.8 Mha. It is widely used as a feed and forage crop. Although winter triticale cultivars are planted in Poland, Germany and Belarus (the main producers), a significant portion of their cultivation is carried out in the Mediterranean basin using spring cultivars. Spain and Türkiye are two examples of the success of this crop in terms of promotion, breeding, and expansion. Thus, in 2022/23, 280,000 hectares of triticale were planted in Spain, while 100,000 hectares were planted in Türkiye, ranking 5th and 8th in the world, respectively. Current triticale cultivars have high grain and/or forage yield. Furthermore, dual-purpose cultivars are available and can be intercropped with legumes, which increases their possibilities in the field. Triticale competes well with weeds and is resistant to many diseases. It performs well in acidic soils, and it is tolerant to drought, conditions common in the Mediterranean basin. In the future, funding for spring triticale breeding programs (which are scarce and declining) should be maintained, and projects to improve agronomic techniques and publicize the advantages of this crop could be implemented. Furthermore, the use of triticale for human food could expand in the region, especially in MENA countries. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop