Advances in Genetic Improvement and Agronomy of Climate-Resilient and Emerging Oilseed Crops
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 72
Special Issue Editors
Interests: oilseeds breeding; sustainable cultivation systems
Interests: breeding; agronomy and seed production of oilseed crops
Interests: agronomy; abiotic stress response; fatty acid metabolism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and the increased frequency of extreme weather events have come to pose serious challenges to modern agriculture. Widely cultivated oilseed crops such as sunflower, canola, soybean, alongside emerging crops like camelina, pennycress, sesame, play an important role in securing global oil supply. Oilseed crops are second-largest source of vegetable oil, with oil palm being the largest, yet the potential of emerging oilseeds remains underexplored in the context of fast shifting climates and the growing need for more sustainable farming systems.
Several emerging oilseeds show clear promise as climate resilient alternatives to major oilseed crops. Camelina, for example, exhibits notable drought tolerance and adapts well to marginal lands, while safflower is similarly valued for its ability to perform under water-limited conditions.
Traditionally, oilseed crop improvement relied primarily on conventional breeding, which remains valid approach but one that is constrained by multiple selection cycles and limited genetic variation in elite germplasm. Understanding genotype–environment interactions and developing cultivars and hybrids adapted to specific regions also enhances crop resilience, and advances in genomic technologies and genome editing enable faster and more precise incorporation of agronomically important traits.
This Special Issue aims to bring together research on genetic improvement and agronomic advancement of oilseed crops, and we invite original research articles and reviews that advance our understanding of oilseed crop adaptation, improvement, and production. We welcome contributions on the genetic basis of stress tolerance (drought, heat, salinity, and waterlogging), yield stability, oil quality, and fatty acid composition. Work covering modern breeding strategies (genomic selection, marker-assisted selection, and genome editing), agronomy, crop management, sustainable inputs, and precision agriculture is particularly encouraged.
The goal of this Special Issue is to bridge fundamental science with practical crop improvement, providing a resource for breeders, agronomists, and policymakers working toward more resilient and productive oilseed systems worldwide.
Dr. Dragana Rajkovic
Prof. Dr. Ana Marjanovic-Jeromela
Dr. Federica Zanetti
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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
- oilseed crops
- genetic improvement
- genomics
- plant breeding
- camelina
- crambe
- pennycress
- sesame
- carinata
- canola
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