Aug 2026· International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management· Vol 02, pp. 1-9· 0 citations
Abstract
Increasing climatic variability poses a major threat to sustainable livestock production through rising temperatures, heat waves, drought, water scarcity, extreme weather events, and changing disease and parasite patterns. These stresses adversely affect animal health, growth, production, reproduction, feed availability, and survival. Climate-resilient livestock can maintain productivity, health, reproductive performance, and survival under environmental stress through traits such as heat and drought tolerance, disease and parasite resistance, feed efficiency, and water-use efficiency. Indigenous breeds are valuable genetic resources because of their adaptation to harsh environments and their ability to utilize poor-quality feed and withstand climatic and disease challenges. Genetic selection provides a sustainable approach to climate adaptation, with conventional methods such as phenotypic, pedigree, and progeny selection complemented by marker-assisted selection, genomic selection, GWAS, and precision livestock breeding. Candidate genes such as SLICK, HSP70, HSP90, and HSF1 contribute to thermotolerance and heat-stress responses. However, breeding for climate resilience is challenged by low heritability, difficulty in phenotyping, genotype × environment interactions, limited genomic information, high technological costs, loss of genetic diversity, and inadequate infrastructure. Integrating indigenous genetic resources with conventional and advanced genomic approaches can accelerate the development of climate-smart livestock capable of maintaining productivity, health, welfare, and resource-use efficiency under changing climatic conditions, thereby improving sustainability, profitability, and food security.
Keywords: Climate-resilient livestock; Heat stress; Genetic selection; Indigenous breeds; Genomic selection; Climate-smart breeding.
Drought constitutes one of the most pervasive abiotic constraints limiting global crop productivity, with its frequency and intensity projected to increase substantially under ongoing climate change. This narrative review synthesises contemporary evidence on the genetic, physiological, and agronomic dimensions of drought resilience in major food crops, drawing on peer-reviewed literature published primarily between 2000 and 2026. Physiologically, drought impairs stomatal conductance, suppresses photosynthetic carbon assimilation, disturbs osmotic equilibrium, and restricts root-mediated water acquisition, with reproductive stages being disproportionately vulnerable. At the genetic level, the deployment of quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, transcription-factor engineering, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, and the overexpression of stress-responsive functional genes has opened novel avenues for enhancing tolerance without compromising yield potential. Breeding programmes have increasingly integrated marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection to accelerate genetic gain, whilst high-throughput phenotyping platforms now enable rapid assessment of drought-adaptive traits at a population scale. Agronomic strategies, including deficit irrigation, conservation tillage, intercropping, and application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), provide complementary levers for sustaining productivity under water-limited conditions. Emerging integrative approaches that combine multi-omics, digital precision agriculture, and policy-enabled climate-smart frameworks are highlighted as critical pathways for translating laboratory and field insights into scalable solutions. The review identifies persistent knowledge gaps—including the limited translation of genomic advances to smallholder contexts and the underexplored potential of microbiome engineering—and calls for a convergence of disciplinary expertise, equitable technology transfer, and coherent policy support to achieve drought-resilient food systems globally.
B. Santhosh, V. Sanjivkumar, H. B. Gowda et al.· Journal of Advances in Biolo...· 0 citations
Climate change is increasing the frequency, duration and nocturnal persistence of thermal stress in cattle production systems, while also altering water availability, forage quality, disease pressure and the reliability of seasonal breeding environments. Reproductive adaptation therefore cannot be reduced to heat tolerance alone. It is the capacity of females, males, embryos and production systems to maintain acceptable fertility under changing climatic exposure without creating disproportionate costs in animal welfare, resource use or genetic diversity. This critical narrative review synthesises evidence published from 1 January 1987 to 30 May 2026, identified through live searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, Crossref-linked scholarly records, open scholarly web indexes, citation chaining and authoritative institutional sources. The evidence indicates that reproductive failure under heat load is generated by interacting systemic, cellular and management pathways. In females, altered neuroendocrine signalling, impaired follicular steroidogenesis, oxidative and mitochondrial injury to oocytes, reduced uterine receptivity and early embryonic loss create both immediate and carry-over effects. In bulls, disrupted scrotal thermoregulation produces delayed deterioration in spermatogenesis, chromatin integrity and fertilising competence that routine semen assessment may underestimate. Genetic variation in thermoregulation and fertility reaction norms is substantial, but selection for thermal resilience is constrained by antagonisms with production, incomplete phenotyping and genotype-by-environment interaction. Cooling, shade, altered breeding calendars, nutritional support, timed breeding and embryo transfer can reduce losses, yet their effectiveness depends on climatic severity, infrastructure, water and energy availability, and the biological stage protected. The strongest adaptation strategy is therefore layered: climate-responsive management should be combined with reproductive technologies, robust phenotyping and breeding goals that protect fertility, longevity and welfare. Evidence remains weakest for long-term reproductive outcomes in beef and extensive systems, male-mediated transmission of heat damage, cross-generational effects, and the economic and environmental performance of integrated adaptation packages.
K. Yaswanth, P. L. Madhavi, V. Sneha et al.· Asian journal of current res...· 0 citations
Maize is the most staple food crop produced in sub-Saharan Africa which its cultivation has been expanding with time however, the productivity remains low. Low productivity of maize in Africa is contributed by different challenges such as pests and diseases, drought, floodings which are associated with the effects of climate change. Drought is among the critical constraints in maize production causing yield loss up to 100% under extreme conditions. With these challenges researchers have come with some of the promising technologies that help to reduce the effect of climate changes for instance breeding new climate resilience maize varieties which using modern breeding tools like marker assisted backcrossing, quantitative trait loci, genomewide association studies, double haploid, gene editing, genomic selection and high throughput phenotyping. These tools map traits of target for introgression to recipient varieties thus reducing time of breeding cycles. Some of the climate of improvement for climate resilience include drought and heat tolerance, high stay green with low less leaf rolling, stemborer and fall armyworm tolerance, water-use efficiency and high grain yield. Effort have been done by CIMMYT in collaboration with National Agricultural Research Institutes have developed climate resilient crop varieties, however, with pace of climate change there is more effort to diversify varieties for sustainable climate resilience that will strengthen food security in sub-Saharan Africa which is the most vulnerable to climate change. There is a need to integrate approaches to cope with climate change such as use of next-generation genomic technologies, digital agriculture and data-driven approaches, strengthening seed systems, integration of farmer preferences and socioeconomic factors into the breeding process, and adaptive breeding programs based on climate scenarios. These will shorten breeding cycles and come up with new technologies that cope with variation of climate at certain intervals.
A. Mwamahonje, Anifa Mtanda, Julius S. Missanga et al.· Frontiers in Plant Science· 0 citations
Background: Livestock production is indispensable for global food security, yet it faces constant pressure to maintain a sustainable balance between environmental, economic, and ethical demands. Objective: This study explores the past, present, and future of the livestock industry through genomic technologies. Methods/Approach: Tools such as Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS), Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), and Genomic Selection (GS) have accelerated precise genetic improvement of traits like feed efficiency, productivity, and disease resistance. Key Tools: CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing further fosters livestock with improved genetic potential. Impact: Genomic-based breeding strategies reduce environmental impacts through lower methane-emitting ruminants and rumen microbiome utilization, while enhancing animal welfare via selection for stress resilience and innate disease resistance, reducing veterinary intervention. Conclusion: Overall, genomic approaches provide a powerful pathway for healthier, more productive, and sustainable livestock, supporting global food security amid climate and resource challenges.
Muhammad Younus· Zeugma Biological Science· 0 citations
Legume crops are increasingly exposed to a combination of abiotic stresses - including drought, heat, salinity and flooding - alongside mounting biotic pressures from pathogens and insect pests. Historical domestication and modern breeding practices have substantially narrowed the genetic base of cultivated legumes, constraining their adaptive potential and limiting yield stability under fluctuating and extreme environments. Crop wild relatives (CWRs) represent a vital reservoir of genetic variation, providing alleles that enhance physiological resilience, reproductive stability, stress-responsive signaling and symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Across major and minor legumes such as chickpea, lentil, lupin, pea, soybean, cowpea and common bean, their CWRs harbor both single-trait and multifaceted adaptive mechanisms, including robust root systems, efficient water and nutrient use, early phenology and resistance to emerging pests and diseases. These wild gene pools maintain functional diversity lost during domestication and constitute essential evolutionary resources for sustaining legume productivity while buffering cropping systems against climate variability. Landraces complement CWRs by offering pre-adapted, locally optimized phenotypes, providing alleles suited to specific agro-ecological niches. The integration of CWRs and landraces into breeding pipelines allows the capture of both cryptic and novel alleles governing complex polygenic traits. Modern breeding innovations - including high-throughput phenotyping, multi-omics platforms, genomic selection and genome editing - have tremendously enhanced the ability to exploit this diversity systematically. By minimizing linkage drag and overcoming reproductive constraints, these technologies accelerate the development of climate-resilient cultivars. Harnessing the combined evolutionary potential of CWRs and landraces with contemporary breeding approaches enables legumes to achieve greater productivity, yield stability and nutritional quality under dynamic environmental conditions, thereby reinforcing their role in sustainable agriculture and global food security.
D. Avasiloaiei, Mariana Calara, PETRE Brezeanu et al.· Frontiers in Plant Science· 0 citations
By combining genomic data with precision breeding techniques, researchers are developing crops that are better adapted to a growing population and a changing climate, positioning the integration of molecular breeding and bioinformatics as a central pillar of future global food security.
Muhammad Shahid Iqbal, Z. Sarfraz, Muhammad Mujahid et al.· Frontiers in Plant Science· 0 citations