Sustainable responses to open field tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) stress impacts

Integration of breeding innovations and epigenetic modifications offers the potential to boost productivity and promote sustainable agricultural practices, particularly in tomato production, which accounts for 16 % of global vegetable production. They are susceptible to various stress factors, Both abiotic (light, temperature, water, humidity, nutrients) and biotic (pests, diseases), which can impact fruit quality and reduce yield quantity by 50–70 %leading to food insecurity and economic losses. Climatic factors impact the traditional farming of tomatoes in the open field; innovative technologies aim to tackle the adverse effects of both abiotic and biotic stress factors. It highlights advancements in crop productivity and stress tolerance, including increased phytochemicals biosynthesis, improved water use efficiency, and soil salinity tolerance. However, challenges like photooxidative damage and downregulation of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes persist. This review provides highlights of promising technologies to mitigate the impact of stress factors on open field tomato production, highlighting both qualitative and quantitative losses. Besides sustainable systematic solutions, such as agroforestry systems, the advantages of using beneficial microbial endophytes, nanomaterials, and exogenous phytohormones in agriculture are discussed. • Traditional open-field tomato farming is affected by climatic factors, highlighting the need for innovative solutions. • Protected environments like CEA and technologies such as beneficial microbes mitigate these challenges. • Alternative methods like agroforestry, provide additional benefits, including carbon sequestration. • Sustainable approaches like agroforestry is explored alongside microbial endophytes, nanomaterials, and phytohormones. • Importance of adopting technologies to enhance the resilience and productivity of tomato farming emphasized.