Stressors in Agriculture: Challenges and Implications for Sustainable Crop Production

Modern agriculture faces a growing array of stressors, abiotic, biotic, climate-induced, socio-economic, and technological, that collectively threaten global crop productivity and food security. This review systematically classifies these stressors, providing a structured framework to understand their individual and combined impacts on agricultural systems. The paper explores how stressors such as drought, salinity, heat, pests, and diseases are intensifying under the influence of climate change and globalisation, with particular focus on the emergence of invasive species and rapidly evolving pathogens. Biotechnological interventions are reviewed as key mitigation strategies, including transgenic crops, genome editing tools like CRISPR, and microbiome engineering approaches. Additionally, the review discusses the use of precision agriculture technologies and early warning systems for proactive stress management. The paper further identifies emerging research gaps, especially in the understanding of multi-stress interactions at physiological and molecular levels, and the need for locally adapted, scalable solutions. Emphasis is placed on the integration of genetic, ecological, and technological approaches supported by policy frameworks, institutional infrastructure, and capacity building. The review concludes that an interdisciplinary and inclusive approach is essential for the development of climate-resilient agricultural systems capable of sustaining productivity under increasing environmental uncertainties.