InterDrought VIII: Global Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Breeding Strategies and Experimental Approaches to Resilient Cropping Systems

Climate change and variability are two of the most pressing global challenges currently, and are already making a significant impact on agriculture worldwide. The impact of long-term drought is placing severe pressure on cropping systems. Current agricultural practices are unsustainable, and there is a movement towards systems and mechanisms that enable plants to grow on limited resources. Next-generation crops need to be water-use efficient and have sustainable yields over a wide range of environmental conditions. Collaboration between disciplines is key to strengthening climate resilience in crops. Innovation in climate resilience in cropping systems can be driven by the integration of breeding, physiological, agronomic, and environmental perspectives.



This Research Topic brings together (but is not limited to) leading researcher contributions from the InterDrought VIII conference taking place from 17 to 21 November 2025 in La Serena, Chile. This creates a platform to share developments and advances in drought research, including physiological, biochemical and "omics" stress responses in plants; water availability and soil water dynamics; modeling; characterization of complex target populations of environments (TPE); new crop improvement strategies, including breeding for TPE and specific drought tolerance, and improved agronomic practices to optimize production in drought prone cropping systems; exploring experimental approaches, current and future; and interdisciplinary research practices in drought research, including the socio-economic impacts.



In order to address the above research areas, this research topic will bring together papers that



- Address global perspectives on drought and water in cropping systems



- Characterize complex target populations of environments (TPE) for crop resilience



- Focus on breeding approaches for complex TPE and drought tolerance



- Highlight experimental approaches and developments in drought research



- Focus on an interdisciplinary approach in drought research, including the social sciences

Article types and fees

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

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

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

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: drought, crop resilience, climate, breeding, complex TPE

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.