ABIOTIC STRESS RESPONSES AND BREEDING STRATEGIES FOR CLIMATE-RESILIENT FODDER CROPS: FUTURE PROSPECTS OF PEARL MILLET × NAPIER HYBRIDS

Abstract

Fodder crops provide vital nutrients for animal growth and milk production, these are critical to sustained livestock production. Because of its high biomass yield, excellent nutritional content, and broad adaptability, Pearl millet × Napier hybrid grass is a significant perennial fodder crop. However, the productivity and quality of fodder are severely limited by growing abiotic stresses like heat, salinity, and drought, due to climatic changes. These stresses have a negative impact on plant growth as well as physiological and biochemical processes. As a result, there is a decrease in crude protein content, change in the composition of fibre, decrease in digestibility, and accumulation of anti-nutritional factors, all of which have an impact on animal performance. Reduced biomass and protein content result from drought stress's disruption of water relations, photosynthesis, and nitrogen assimilation. Heat stress promotes leaf senescence, oxidative damage, and metabolic disruptions, lowering the quality of forage, whereas salinity stress results in osmotic imbalance and ion toxicity, which compromise nutrient uptake and membrane stability. Osmotic adjustment, the buildup of compatible solutes, antioxidant defense mechanisms, and morphological changes are how forage crops react. The review also covers both traditional and cutting-edge breeding techniques, such as germplasm screening, direct and indirect selection, introgression of stress-tolerant genes, molecular breeding, and biotechnological methods, for enhancing abiotic stress tolerance in Pearl millet x Napier hybrids. These tactics can promote year-round fodder production and increase climate resilience.