Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils

Raza, Sajjad; Pandey, Bipin; Hawkesford, Malcolm; Griffiths, Simon; Bennett, Malcolm; Mooney, Sacha

doi:10.1038/s41477-025-01977-z

Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils

Raza, Sajjad; Pandey, Bipin; Hawkesford, Malcolm; Griffiths, Simon; Bennett, Malcolm; Mooney, Sacha

Authors

Dr SAJJAD RAZA SAJJAD.RAZA@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Research Fellow

Dr BIPIN PANDEY Bipin.Pandey@nottingham.ac.uk
Principal Research Fellow

Malcolm Hawkesford

Simon Griffiths

Professor MALCOLM BENNETT M.BENNETT@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
PROFESSOR OF ZOONOTIC AND EMERGING DISEASE

Professor SACHA MOONEY sacha.mooney@nottingham.ac.uk
Head of School (Professor of Soil Physics)

Abstract

Modern crop breeding and seed certification agencies ignore the known spatial heterogeneity of soils and develop cultivars to thrive in a ‘one-size-fits-all’ soil environment. Neglecting the evolving dynamics of soils substantially undermines the capacity of new genotypes to deliver optimal yield and stress resilience, and requires urgent consideration in future plant breeding programmes.

Citation

Raza, S., Pandey, B., Hawkesford, M., Griffiths, S., Bennett, M., & Mooney, S. (2025). Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils. Nature Plants, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01977-z

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 6, 2025
Online Publication Date	Apr 2, 2025
Publication Date	Apr 2, 2025
Deposit Date	Mar 6, 2025
Publicly Available Date	Oct 3, 2025
Journal	Nature Plants
Print ISSN	2055-026X
Electronic ISSN	2055-0278
Publisher	Nature Publishing Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01977-z
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/46192139
Publisher URL	https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-01977-z