Integration of Plant Functional Traits in Sustainable Agriculture

Trait is defined as a characteristic measured at an individual organism’s morphological, phenological, physiological, behavioral, or cultural level or another relevant level of organization. Functional trait is any morphological, phenological, and physiological trait that impacts an individual’s fitness via its effect on vegetative biomass, reproductive output, and survival. Plant morphological traits include growth form, plant height, number of branches, length and width of the leaf (leaf surface), leaf number, inflorescence pattern, flower size, flower shape, fruit size, fruit shape, fruit color, number of seeds, seed color, and seed mass. Root traits include root type, rooting depth, root hairs, root branching, association with mycorrhiza, and other microbes. Physiological traits are procedures and functions that help plants acquire nutrients and other resources. Physiological traits include rate of photosynthesis, chlorophyll contents, light saturation point, rate of transpiration, stomatal conductance, leaf temperature, water-use efficiency, and respiration. Phenological traits include different events recorded throughout the year in the plants. Functional traits at the community, population, and individual levels play pivotal roles in ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services. For example, leguminous species are essential in fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and affecting the agricultural ecosystems’ functioning and productivity. In sustainable agriculture, crop productivity is increased by utilizing organic farming and other nature-friendly agricultural practices. A trait-based approach in agriculture can lead us to understand better the interactions between species, crop-environment interaction, the impact of agricultural practices and crop domestication on the environment, and trends in crop productivity. In the present chapter, the author tried to reconcile the functional traits in the sustainable agriculture system.