Enhancing Plant Resilience to Climate Change: Insights from Priming and Intercropping Approaches
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2026) | Viewed by 1338
Special Issue Editor
Interests: genetics; plant breeding; agronomy; plant physiology; plant biotechnology; bioactives accumulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The vulnerability of agriculture to climate change has been exacerbated in recent years by extreme meteorological phenomena such as heat waves, droughts and floods. These events are increasing the risk of food insecurity worldwide. The most recent years have been the hottest on record, with heat waves impacting every region of the world, leading to a decline in global agricultural production. Ensuring food security for an ever-growing population requires innovative techniques that allow plants to express their productive potential under difficult conditions or, alternatively, the revival of old agricultural practices that have regained their relevance. This means that sustainable, climate-smart strategies are needed to reduce food insecurity caused by climate change. The development of high-quality seeds and stress-resistant varieties has been important in the response to climate change. The use of new priming and/or coating techniques yields better germination and quicker starting times to avoid abiotic stresses. Bacteria can be used to replace fertilisers, directly or indirectly improving crop growth and yield. Intercropping is an ancient agricultural practice of mixed cultivation that involves planting two or more crop species together in the same space and at the same time. The combination of legume and grass crops has been widely used for fodder production because of their ecological and agronomic advantages—legumes provide more than 30% of the nitrogen required by grasses. Intercropping can therefore minimise the effects of abiotic stresses on crop productivity.
This Special Issue aims to synthesise new knowledge and results derived from recent seed priming and/or coating techniques and new sources of fertilisation and stimulation, as well as associated crops not yet exploited, to demonstrate the agro-ecological, agronomic and economic benefits and the benefits for soil fertility and to help crops face difficult conditions aggravated by climate change.
Dr. Othmane Merah
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- priming
- nanopriming
- seed coating
- intercropping
- PGPR
- biostimulant
- plant growth
- abiotic stress tolerance
- sustainable agriculture
- plant resilience
- nutrient use efficiency
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