Seed, leaf, or soil? rethinking agricultural application strategies for boosting crop growth, resilience, and yield

Abstract Background Global crop productivity is increasingly constrained by diverse environmental stresses, highlighting the urgent need for efficient, targeted, and sustainable agricultural input delivery strategies to enhance crop performance and resilience. Scope This review critically compares three widely used agricultural approaches: seed priming, foliar spraying, and soil application with emphasis on their practical impacts on crop growth, stress tolerance, and yield performance. Seed priming is shown to enhance early germination, seedling vigor, and uniform crop establishment. Foliar spraying provides rapid correction of nutrient deficiencies and effective mitigation of acute stress during critical growth stages. In contrast, soil application supports long-term root development, sustained nutrient uptake, and beneficial interactions with soil microbial communities. By synthesizing evidence across multiple crop species and stressconditions, this review highlights the advantages, limitations, and context-dependent effectiveness of each approach, while also discussing integrated application strategies to optimize crop responses under variable field conditions. Conclusions Overall, strategic selection and integration of seed priming, foliar spraying, and soil application can substantially improve crop resilience to environmental stresses and enhance yield stability. The insights presented in this review offer practical guidance for developing sustainable, resilient, and adaptive agricultural management practices suited to changing environmental and climatic conditions.