Harnessing Omics Technologies to Mitigate Drought Stress in Crop Plants

ABSTRACT Abiotic stresses are one of the major factors affecting crop productivity. Among all the abiotic stresses, drought is the most critical and common stress that impedes crop productivity and endangers global food security. Recent developments in the classical omics technologies, that is, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and phenomics have provided insights into the complex network of genes regulating drought response and adaptation. Genomics facilitates the identification of drought‐responsive genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs), while transcriptomics provides a dynamic view of gene expression under water‐deficit conditions. Proteomics and metabolomics reveal the functional proteins and metabolites involved in stress tolerance mechanisms, such as osmoprotectant accumulation, antioxidant activity and signalling pathways. Integrating high‐throughput omics data enables the precise characterisation of drought‐tolerant phenotypes, bridging the genotype‐to‐phenotype gap. Advanced bioinformatics tools and systems biology approaches further enhance the interpretation of multi‐omics datasets, enabling the identification of key regulatory networks and potential targets for crop improvement. Such comprehensive insights, therefore, will hopefully build a road for developing climate‐resilient crops by marker‐assisted breeding, genome editing and transgenic technologies. This review explores the transformative potential of omics approaches in mitigating drought stress in crop plants, laying the foundation for sustainable agriculture in the face of escalating climate challenges.