Synergizing genomic advances and traditional breeding for the improvement of tropical crop germplasm

Tropical climates, with consistently warm temperatures and high solar irradiance, provide near-optimal conditions for year-round crop growth and high agricultural productivity. Yet, domestication and projected climate change are expected to cause substantial yield losses in many low-latitude production systems by mid-century, with maize and other cereals in some tropical regions facing yield declines of 10–20 % or greater without adaptation. In addition, the narrow base of germplasm resources, insufficient breeding methodologies, inadequate infrastructure, and the perennial nature of these crops restrict the rapid advancement and dissemination of improved crop varieties. Harnessing biodiversity and optimizing propagation systems underpin innovative breeding strategies that enhance resilience, yield, and nutritional quality. To harvest the maximum benefits from the main and orphan tropical crops, knowledge of their origins, evolutionary histories, current germplasm resources, and recent advances in genomics is a prerequisite. Sequential and improved versions of large and complex sugarcane (e.g., ∼10 Gb in modern sugarcane hybrids), coffee, date palm, cassava, coconut, mango, and banana genomes provide unprecedented opportunities for the inclusion and more accurate inference of associated emerging technologies and interdisciplinary collaborations. Furthermore, we highlight the need to integrate innovative, fast-track breeding methods, such as speed breeding, doubled haploidy, genomics-assisted selection, high-throughput phenotyping, structured data management, and advanced decision-support tools into tropical crop improvement programs. In conclusion, reconsidering climate optimized tropical agriculture will require parallel investments in genomics assisted genotypes characterization, locally anchored phenotyping and envirotyping networks, polyploid-aware prediction models, and resilient, equitable seed systems.