Author(s): Tegegnework Gebremedhin*
Drought is one of the prominent environmental stresses which is significantly hampering crop yield and its quality in the globe. Drought is mostly affects the crop which grows under the rainfed condition, represents 80% of the total cultivated area worldwide. Climate change increases the odds of worsening drought in many parts of the world in the decades ahead which damage the crop that has occurred as a result of abnormal metabolism and may reduce growth, crop death or death of crop development. The physiological activity of the crop also influenced by water stress through suppressing photosynthesis and the consumption of assimilates in the expanding leaves. Plant hormones are crucial factors in transducing the stress signal and the main player among them abscisic acid (ABA) where the stress occurred. To alleviate suitable crop productivity under the environmental stresses scientists developed different breeding strategies like conventional breeding which works for self and cross-pollinated crops and used to develop or improve cultivars using a basic conservative tool for manipulating plant genome within the natural genetic boundaries of species. Among the conventional breeding strategies pedigree, recurrent selection, Back-crossing and mutation breeding which are mostly important to develop cultivars that can tolerate drought stress.
