Enhancing barley resilience: advanced genetic techniques to improve drought tolerance for sustainable cultivation under current climatic fluctuations

Barley is an important cereal crop primarily cultivated for livestock feed and malt production. However, its consumption in human diets has increased due to recognized health benefits, particularly its high beta-glucan and dietary fiber content. Drought stress significantly impairs its development, growth, and yield. Moreover, projected climate change patterns indicate more frequent and severe droughts. Consequently, enhancing its drought tolerance becomes imperative to secure sustainable production and global food security in the face of growing populations. Various genetic approaches could be employed to improve the resilience and tolerance of barley to drought stress. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) analyze genotype–phenotype relationships, offering valuable insights by identifying gene candidates associated with tolerance to drought stress. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) efficiently identifies stress tolerant barley genotypes using molecular markers. Genetic engineering surpasses traditional breeding by directly inserting stress tolerant genes into the barley genome. Genome editing technology is groundbreaking due to its precision in directly modifying genes. Accordingly, this review explores the prospects of GWAS, MAS, genetic engineering, and genome editing for improving drought tolerance in barley. Exploiting these mechanisms maintains promise for enhancing barley productivity under challenging environmental conditions, particularly under current climate change.