Enhancing Crop Improvement with Speed Breeding: Applications, Challenges, and Future Prospects

Speed breeding (SB) has emerged as a revolutionary tool in the modern agricultural system. It plays a vital role in accelerating the improvement of crops by shortening the generational cycle of crops. This review explores the principles, methodologies, and applications of SB in enhancing crop improvement. By using SB techniques such as extended photoperiods and optimized temperature regimes, SB enables rapid generation advancement and genetic gain. The integration of molecular breeding tools, such as marker-assisted selection and genomic selection, further enhances the efficiency and precision of this approach. This review explains different protocols and applications of SB in different crop species, including wheat, rice, barley, oats, and vegetables. Additionally, this review also explains the integration of plant breeding tools such as gene editing and high-throughput phenotyping to further improve breeding efficiency. In the end, the paper explains the major challenges and constraints to SB. Although SB has achieved a significant level of success and improvement in several crop species but still the challenges of high cost, interdisciplinary expertise, and different protocols for each crop species remain major constraints, especially for developing countries. In conclusion, SB offers an innovative and sustainable solution for accelerating crop improvement and ensuring global food security in the face of climate change and increasing population demands. Future research should focus on expanding its applicability to a wider range of crops and refining protocols to optimize efficiency and accessibility.