Global demand for food is rising as a result of increases in the global population as well as dietary changes. Furthermore, climate change exerts additional pressure on the food supply, adversely affecting sustainable food production. Increased temperatures and drought stresses coupled with the migration of pests limit crop yields and affect their nutritional quality. Many staple crops are unable to adapt to these changing climatic conditions.

To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation to end hunger and promote good health and well-being, concerted efforts need to be made to enhance food production while mitigating the effects of climate change through the promotion of climate-smart agricultural practices and the utilization of neglected and underutilized crop species. These species can be highly nutritious and well-adapted to different agroecologies and climatic conditions, meaning that they offer the possibility of improving food and nutritional security.

Several of these crop species have the capacity to increase diversification in food production but despite that, they have often been previously overlooked. In recent times, however, policymakers and researchers are increasingly recognizing their potential importance. These species are often known as orphan, underutilized, neglected, and underexploited crops. These crop species are climate resilient, but their yield and quality have sometimes been compromised. If these neglected and underutilized crop species (NUCS) are properly utilized in crop rotation systems, they can disrupt the cycle of some pests and diseases. Moreover, genetic improvement of NUCS using advanced breeding as well as biotechnological and omics technologies could help tackle the constraints on their production, promote sustainable food production, and increase the income of the farmers who are the primary holders of the genetic resources of these crops. Utilization of omics such as proteomics, genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics delineates the complex molecular machinery governing growth, development, and stress responses and could aid better decision making as regards when planting should be done, as well as the production of climate-smart crops.

This Research Topic aims to present articles that elucidate current research efforts in the sustainable production and utilization of neglected and underutilized crops, with a major emphasis on the use of modern technologies.

We welcome authors to submit manuscripts dealing with themes that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Studies of the genetics of NUCS;

• Exploitation of the nutritional and bioactive potential of NUCS;

• Improvement of NUCS through advanced breeding;

• Biotechnological methods for increasing the nutritional value and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses in NUCS;

• The use of omics technologies and genome editing tools to unravel the complex biological pathways involved in metabolic reactions to improve crop productivity and ensure sustainable agriculture;

• The use of omics to acquire an enhanced understanding of NUCS responses to environmental stresses;

• The use of below-ground beneficial microbes (plant-microbe interactions) for improving NUCS.

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Frontiers in Plant Science

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