Special focus: Responding and adaptation of crop growth to climatic warming

The mean surface air temperature on Earth has risen by 0.18 °C per decade since 1981, and is predicted to  climb at least another 1.5 °C by the end of the century. Heat and drought stresses will be more serious and frequent to crop production, causing a large reduction in grain yield globally. Global food production, however, needs to increase by more than 70% from its 2005 to 2007 levels by 2050 to feed a growing world population. Thus, ensuring food security requires a sustainable adaptation strategy of crop production to climatic warming. The special focus issue: Responding and adaptation of crop growth to climatic warming, shows the responses and improvement of crop tolerances to high temperature and drought stresses. There are four papers on rice, one on winter wheat and one on fresh waxy maize. The aim of this special focus issue is to enhance our understanding of crop response and adaptation to heat stress and benefit technology innovation of crop management for coping with climatic warming.

• Enclosed stigma contributes to higher spikelet fertility for rice (Oryza sativa ) subjected to heat stress
  Chao Wu, Kehui Cui, Qiuqian Hu et al.
• Quantifying the effects of short-term heat stress at booting stage on nonstructural carbohydrates remobilization in rice
  Fengxian Zhen, Junjie Zhou, Aqib Mahmood et al.
• Application of moderate nitrogen levels alleviates yield loss and grain quality deterioration caused by post-silking heat stress in fresh waxy maize
  Jue Wang, Pengxiao Fu, Weiping Lu et al.
• Modeling the effects of extreme high-temperature stress at anthesis and grain filling on grain protein in winter wheat
  Raheel Osman, Yan Zhu, Weixing Cao et al.
• Response of spikelet water status to high temperature and its relationship with heat tolerance in rice
  Wencheng Wang, Kehui Cui, Qiuqian Hu et al.
• Roles of jasmonates and brassinosteroids in rice responses to high temperature stress – A review
  Jianchang Yang, Wenqian Miao, Jing Chen