Sustainable Crop Production Systems for Emerging Climate Trends Under Global Warming: Practices, Challenges, and Future Directions

About this Research Topic

Background

Agriculture is highly dependent on climate, which has natural patterns of variability and is changed by external factors such as climate change and global warming. The increased concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases cause global warming. One cause of rising levels of greenhouse gases is incoordinate urbanization and anthropogenic activities. Growing populations, deforestation, industrialization, urbanization, and improper waste management have inadvertently added many greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and caused global warming. In addition, modern agriculture is highly dependent on the excessive use of non-renewable energy sources, which are mainly responsible for the increased carbon footprint in the agriculture sector. Hence, it needs to be examined how these changing climates due to global warming affect our crop production systems. Special attention has been focused on extreme climate trends that affect farming. Drought, temperature, and flooding generate long-term concerns for sustainable agriculture across various plant growth phases and stages.

Global warming has led to unprecedented shifts in climate patterns, significantly impacting agricultural systems worldwide. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events threaten global food security. Crop production systems, especially in vulnerable regions, are increasingly under pressure to adapt to these changes. Despite ongoing efforts, many current agricultural practices need to be equipped to cope with the accelerating pace of climate change. In addition to the direct impacts on crop yields, global warming is intensifying soil degradation, reducing water availability, and disrupting traditional growing seasons. Smallholder farmers who rely on rain-fed agriculture are particularly at risk, as they often need more resources, technologies, and knowledge to effectively mitigate or adapt to these challenges. Moreover, the knowledge gap in understanding how emerging climate trends will affect specific regions and crops hampers the ability to develop tailored solutions.

To address these challenges, there is an urgent need to identify and implement sustainable crop production practices that not only improve resilience to climate variability but also promote environmental sustainability and enhance food security. These practices must be adaptable and supported by policies and farmer engagement. A sustainable crop production system is an essential requirement to ensure world food security and reduce poverty. In contrast to today's production systems, they are expected to occur with emerging new types of climate trends and changes, significant increases in temperature, drought, and increases in humidity. however, there is need to examined how these changing climates due to global warming affect our crop production systems.

This Research Topic invites comprehensive explorations into sustainable crop production systems that address the emerging challenges of global warming and climate change. Authors are encouraged to examine innovative practices that enhance crop resilience to shifting climate patterns, including heat stress, erratic rainfall, drought, and increased frequency of extreme weather events. Emphasis should be placed on both traditional and modern agronomic techniques, such as regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, precision farming, and climate-smart practices. The research should also address socio-economic challenges, policy implications, and the role of technology in fostering sustainability. Contributions that outline future directions, including scalable solutions, integrated pest management, water-use efficiency, and adaptation strategies for smallholder and large-scale farmers, are highly encouraged. Cross-disciplinary approaches that engage the biological, ecological, and economic dimensions of sustainable agriculture under global warming are especially welcome.

This Research Topic encourages contributions that deepen understanding of how sustainable crop production systems can be adapted to emerging climate trends under global warming. The focus is on practical, evidence-based solutions that collectively contribute to resilient agricultural systems.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Inter-annual variability, Crops Growth Phases, Global Warming, Drought stress, Flood stress, Biophysical plant traits

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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