ABSTRACTDry regions are primarily inhabited by smallholder farmers who have limited capacity to enhance agricultural productivity, particularly in crop production. These areas are characterized by low and erratic rainfall that does not support crops to maturity. This underlying study has been compiled by using a systematic review of papers published between 2020 and 2025. A total of 1200 papers were selected and screening was done to remove 790 duplicates, 195 had no proper information about climate‐smart agriculture (CSA), and 139 were published before 2020, leaving a total of 76 papers included in the study. The primary objective of this systematic review was to explore resilient agricultural technologies suitable for dry regions to improve food systems. Resilient agricultural practices suitable for dry regions include soil water conservation, irrigation, crop diversification, and cultivating climate‐resilient crops that include sorghum, cowpeas, and millets to enhance the food system. Growing climate‐resilient crops is regarded as a key option in drought‐prone areas that improves crop yields and food availability. Combining water management, soil conservation, and sorghum in low rainfall areas increased yield from 200 to 1140 kg ha−1 in Zimbabwe and from 250 to 5675 kg ha−1 in Kenya. An increase in other crops, such as maize, has also been reported with the use of crop rotation, irrigation systems, and agroforestry. Improvements in food systems reduce hunger and poverty, and empower smallholder farmers in dry regions to enhance their livelihoods. Similarly, examples of climate‐resilient agriculture options have also been presented, giving relevant examples. Smallholder farmers are recommended to adopt climate‐resilient agricultural practices to all farmers to mitigate climate change, reduce food insecurity, and improve rural livelihoods.

ABSTRACT In Burkina Faso, smallholder farmers rely heavily on rain‐fed agriculture, which is affected by climate change. The adoption of climate‐smart practices is essential to strengthen the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change and improve household food security and, consequently, global food security. Despite the great potential of these practices to combat the effects of climate change on agriculture, their adoption by farmers remains low or limited. The reasons for this low adoption are varied, suggesting that the factors are largely contextual. This research analyzes the determinants of the adoption of climate‐smart practices among farmers in Burkina Faso in the context of innovation diffusion. To do this, a multivariate probit regression model was used on survey data from 48,159 plots owned by farmers in the country. The results show that age, gender, access to credit, access to extension services, property rights, livestock ownership, and education are the main determinants of the adoption of climate‐smart practices in Burkina Faso. Large‐scale awareness‐raising, training, and promotion, while promoting access to credit and land ownership documents, are necessary for better adoption of climate‐smart practices.

ABSTRACTElymus sibiricus L., a perennial tufted herbaceous species native to the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau, serves as a crucial forage resource and plays a vital role in ecological restoration of degraded vegetation. To discover beneficial microorganisms that promote its growth and enhance its stress resistance, this study isolated two novel Plant Growth‐Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains, Bacillus mycoides GN‐1 and Bacillus sp. MQ‐5 from rhizospheric soils of wild E.sibiricus populations on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau. Both strains demonstrated plant growth‐promoting traits, including indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA) synthesis and siderophore production. In pot experiments, MQ‐5 treatment increased aboveground fresh biomass by 25.90% (p < 0.05), increased root biomass by 270.51% (p < 0.001), while GN‐1 treatment increased 19.29% (p < 0.05) and 54.38% (p < 0.001), respectively, compared to the control. Furthermore, MQ‐5 alleviated salinity and drought stress in E. sibiricus, highlighting its potential for improving forage productivity and resilience in fragile high‐altitude ecosystems.

ABSTRACTForest ecosystems play a crucial role in mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity, supporting bioenergy production, and providing green jobs that sustain the livelihoods of billions worldwide. However, in recent decades, forests have become increasingly vulnerable to a range of abiotic and biotic stresses that impede forest yield and development, thereby threatening environmental stability, food security, and global human well‐being. Key challenges include climate change, water scarcity, soil‐related constraints, overcutting, and pathogenic infestations, all of which hinder successful growth and productivity. Emerging nanotechnology, particularly the application of nanoparticles (NPs) ranging from 1 to 100 nm, offers innovative solutions in forestry. This review analyzes published research over the past 25 years on the applications of NPs in forest production, with a particular focus on enhancing reforestation efforts and stress resilience. Out of the 64 researches reviewed, the key areas of investigation include improvements in seed germination (14%), plant growth (36%), and physiological tolerance to drought (18.6%), salinity and toxicity (9.7%), pests and diseases (8.6%), and wildfire stressors (13%). Approximately 97% of NP applications have shown beneficial effects on critical growth and physiological parameters, although a small number of studies report adverse outcomes. Future applications in forestry should emphasize the optimization of commonly used NPs, including silver (AgNPs), zinc oxide (ZnO NPs), silicon dioxide (SiO2 NPs), and iron‐based NPs. Notably, the current literature remains limited in its coverage of global tree species. This review advocates for a synergistic, interdisciplinary approach to advance the sustainable integration of nanotechnology into forestry practices and to broaden its application across a wider diversity of tree species. Collaborative research efforts will be essential to further develop this promising field.

ABSTRACTUnderstanding species‐specific salt and heat tolerance mechanisms provides valuable insights into colonization and zonation patterns in saline environments. To explore these mechanisms, this study investigated the effects of selected salinity and thermoperiod on seed germination in the African haplotypes of the common reeds, P. australis and P. mauritianus. The effect of salinity was determined by germinating seeds in 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 50% seawater at alternating night/day temperatures of 15°C/25°C and 20°C/30°C for 21 days. In both species, the highest germination, seedling vigor, root length, and number of leaves were obtained in the non‐saline control treatment. In P. australis, there was 100% seed germination in the non‐saline controls in both thermoperiods, while in P. mauritianus, germination was 36% and 45% lower, respectively. Salinity did not affect the germination of P. australis at 15°C/25°C, but at 20°C/30°C, germination decreased. In P. mauritianus, seed germination decreased significantly with an increase in salinity in both thermoperiods. Salinity and 20°C/30°C thermoperiod significantly reduced biomass, leaf production, culm height, and root elongation in both species. Phragmites australis was more salt‐tolerant than P. mauritianus, as germination percentage, biomass, root length, and seedling vigor index were higher in both thermoperiods. Neither species germinated at 5°C and 35°C/40°C thermoperiods; however, P. australis seeds exhibited higher viability as indicated by a greater germination recovery percentage compared to P. mauritianus. Phragmites australis seeds are lighter, fluffier, more viable, disperse easily, and may contribute to its ability to colonize a greater diversity of habitats compared to P. mauritianus.

ABSTRACTSeaweeds are considered an essential component of the blue economy. Because seaweed extracts are rich in bioactive compounds that enhance plant stress resilience, exploiting this resource could offer a sustainable solution for crop production. Salinity is a major abiotic challenge that significantly impacts crop yield and food security. Through meta‐analysis, we explored whether the exogenous application of seaweed extracts improves the salt tolerance of cereal crops. All the studies chosen for this study utilized aqueous seaweed extracts as foliar sprays. A multi‐level meta‐analysis with a mixed effects model was performed to determine the effect size. This meta‐analysis demonstrated that applying aqueous seaweed extracts enhanced the shoot and root biomass under normal and salinity stress conditions, suggesting that seaweed extract can help improve crop stress tolerance. The seaweeds studied belonged to three classes: Phaeophyceae, Rhodophyta, and Chlorophyta, with extracts from Chlorophyta and Phaeophyceae significantly enhancing biomass production under salinity conditions. Applying aqueous seaweed extracts effectively improved salinity tolerance at both 34.2–100 mM and 101–400 mM NaCl equivalent salinity stress. Moreover, exogenous foliar application of ≤ 25% aqueous seaweed extracts was most effective for improving salinity tolerance in cereals. The impact of seaweed extracts on cereal crop yields has not been extensively reported; therefore, further studies should focus on this aspect.

ABSTRACTQuantifying crop responses to increasing temperatures is critical for predicting the productivity and sustainability of agricultural systems under environmental change. Physiological trait data associated with maximum Rubisco carboxylation (Vcmax) and maximum electron transport (Jmax) rates are especially important predictors of crop response to elevated temperatures. However, when generating Vcmax and Jmax data, steady‐state methods of gas exchange measurements are time‐consuming; thus, non‐steady‐state methods have been developed to obtain these measurements faster, prospectively allowing for trait data collection of considerably more varieties of crops. Globally important and geographically widespread vineyards are of particular interest due to the high economic value and the susceptibility of these managed systems to climate warming, especially in Canada, where the annual rate of warming far exceeds global averages. In this study, we examined the efficacy of the high‐throughput, non‐steady‐state dynamic assimilation technique (DAT) for obtaining Vcmax and Jmax data from wine grapes. Specifically, we measured Vcmax and Jmax (alongside leaf nitrogen [N] concentrations and leaf mass per unit area [LMA]) across seven of the world's most common wine grape (Vitis vinifera L.) varieties, namely, Cabernet franc, Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot noir, Riesling, Sauvignon blanc, and Viognier. Our results show that Vcmax and Jmax estimates derived from the DAT were strongly correlated to those obtained through the steady‐state method (r2 = 0.748 and 0.908, respectively), and Jmax did not differ significantly between the two methods. Additionally, leaf N explained 43%–46% and 56%–58% of the variation in Vcmax and Jmax, respectively, across both methods. Our results suggest that the DAT represents a viable tool for rapidly estimating intraspecific variation in important physiological traits and allows for increased replication and the inclusion of additional varieties when evaluating the responses of wine grape and other crops to climate warming.

ABSTRACTAsian soybean rust (ASR) is caused by the biotrophic fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd. & P. Syd., and is one of the most important diseases of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], with recorded yield losses of up to 100%. The fungus Lecanicillium uredinophilum isolate PP2018‐001, originally isolated from wild strawberry rust pustules, revealed hyperparasitic abilities on the rust urediniospores of soybean and frangipani (Plumeria spp.). This study examined the fungus‐to‐fungus interactions of the hyperparasite (L. uredinophilum) and P. pachyrhizi using confocal laser‐scanning microscopy (CLSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to reveal whether L. uredinophilum isolate PP2018‐001 employed mycoparasitism as its mechanism of action. The CLSM used an Agrobacterium tumefaciens‐mediated transformation (AGTM) of L. uredinophilum isolate PP2018‐001 with the green fluorescence protein (GFP) gene to track the hyperparasite infection process. The SEM and TEM investigations used both in vivo and in vitro co‐inoculations to examine the extent and type of damage caused by L. uredinophilum on the urediniospores of P. pachyrhizi. Confocal microscopy revealed the ability of L. uredinophilum to penetrate and intensely colonize urediniospores within 36 h. In SEM studies, L. uredinophilum hyphae extensively coiled around urediniospores after both the in vivo and in vitro co‐inoculations, with clear penetration and damage of outer urediniospore walls, which, with time, produced visible perforations and loss of cell integrity. TEM revealed the infection of urediniospores by L. uredinophilum, penetrating hyphae, germ tube pores, and the collapse of urediniospores. This study captured the parasitic nature of L. uredinophilum on P. pachyrhizi fungus‐fungus interactions. It showed that mycoparasitism occurred, and possibly enzymatic activity occurred, resulting in the degradation of urediniospore outer walls and germ tubes. The results are important for the potential registration of isolates of L. uredinophilum for the biological control of soybean rust.

ABSTRACTHigh soil salinity affects plant growth, yield, and water use efficiency, leading to drought and ion toxicity. Silicon (Si), a crucial element in soil, can mitigate such stress. Si neutralizes harmful impacts, reduces Na+ uptake, and promotes plant growth. It benefits higher plants like grasses and cultivated crops. However, its role in maize cultivars is rarely reported. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of exogenous Si application on maize plant growth, physiology, gene activation, and phytohormonal regulation under salinity stress. Therefore, a hydroponic experiment was conducted to study the impact of salt (100 mM NaCl) on two different maize varieties, the salt‐sensitive Jalal and the salt‐tolerant Iqbal, along with and without Si enrichment in pots or Si foliar spray. Our findings revealed that various phenotypical growth parameters as well as physiological parameters were significantly affected due to salt stress. However, the presence of Si mitigated the stress responses in both varieties. Moreover, we found that Si application reduced the NaCl‐induced effects on abscisic acid and jasmonates in both varieties. Based on our findings, we concluded that Si application may lead to a reduction of NaCl‐mediated salt stress on maize plants and help the plant to grow better.