Dear Colleagues,

According to United Nations, there are 7.3 billion people now in the globe with that figure escalating to 9.7 billion by 2050. This population expansion, along with a rise in consumer purchasing power will certainly lead to a dietary shift, with a preference for horticultural foods among plant-derived food products, although agricultural grain products will remain the major source of human food calories. The rise in consumer demand will be an important element in the formulation of various agricultural and food policies. However, the prospect of shaping a food policy by the governments will never be smooth considering the adverse impact of climate change in the foreseeable future. High-temperature stress occurs due to temperature dynamics, light intensity, and low rainfall and runs concurrently with drought stress. The growing impacts of climate change increase the occurrences and severity of both stress factors. The study on the impact of stress, although of necessity, is highly complex to understand.  Horticulture is the science related to growing and managing plants for commercial and non-commercial purposes, which embraces activities such as planting, cultivation, harvesting, storage, and marketing of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other nursery products. Compared to agricultural products, the half-life for storage and preservation of horticulture food is very short and they become highly vulnerable under a warmer climate. The crop yield is severely affected by water stress due to the decline in soil moisture and increase in evapotranspiration.

While the impact of heat episodes under a warmer climate is nearly certain in the forthcoming years, mankind needs horticultural plants resilient to stress. However, there have not been efforts adequate to unravel the effect of incident high temperatures and water deficiency on plant cell metabolism for designing crops under stress-prone environments. A thermal performance curve reveals the thermal response to cell functions. As temperature increases the rate of cell metabolism increases and then rapidly declines at higher temperatures. Heat episodes result in the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species causing oxidative stress, and apoptosis, which finally leads to sterility and/or fruit degeneration. High temperature and drought cause disruption of the thylakoid membranes ultimately inhibiting the activities of membrane-bound electron carriers and enzymes, slowing down net carbon assimilation. Depending on the type of stress and affected tissue, the impacts can reduce plant growth and development. It is pertinent now to screen genotypes for stress tolerance through the selective assessment of stress impacts on physiological and biochemical mechanisms.

So, research articles, reviews and studies in this area of study are welcome. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Pravat Kumar Mohapatra

Section editor