Wheat and barley are the two most important food grain crops that contribute approximately 34% of the total global food grains production and acknowledged as a strong pillar in ensuring food and nutritional security. Currently, hundreds of maladies of both biotic and abiotic nature of threats invade both the crops in one or another corner of the world. This volume brings together an inclusive paragon of updated information, new understanding and improved management technologies from several expert researchers who are actively involved in managing a diverse range of wheat and barley maladies. This book is an outcome of 132 transdisciplinary expert contributors who deliver new insights about the basic and applied perspectives of ongoing wheat and barley research with clear-cut outlines of future priorities in light of current challenges and their mitigation. This book contains 32 chapters grouped under three different sections. The first section contains eight chapters that highlight the global trends in wheat and barley production, and policy perspective in ensuring food and nutrition security. Further, it addresses the researchable gaps in the existing policies to accelerate the varietal replacement through strengthening of seed systems as well as modern extension tools and approaches for achieving the global agenda of sustainable food and nutrition security and their impact on the society. In the second section of the book, 18 different chapters explore the potential of cutting-edge innovations in the research domain of breeding to accelerate the genetic gains of wheat and barley. More specifically, this section sheds light on the principle and fundamental information regarding the genetic manipulation for wheat and barley improvement and gives a comprehensive overview of amalgamation of traditional breeding tools with the cutting-edge genome editing tools for rapid genetic gains and the management of major threatening maladies of global significance such as rusts, powdery mildew, blast, bunts, smuts, spot blotch, aphid, salinity and heavy metals contamination. This section also covers the topics on wheat pre-breeding, durum wheat, hybrid wheat, dicoccum wheat and transgenic as well as physiological interventions to improve abiotic stress tolerance in wheat and barley crops. The last section of the book deals with the components of wheat and barley quality, their testing methods and genetic enhancement of wheat and barley end-product quality. In this section, seven chapters portray the current status and future prospects of ongoing interventions in wheat and barley processing quality of end-products with effect of long-term storage on their nutritional and processing quality as well as biofortification of wheat and barley seed. This section also offers updated information on molecular, biotechnological and omics-based interventions for improving the grain quality. This book volume is envisioned for everyone who is directly or indirectly involved in wheat and barley research and wish to get the up-to-date information on genetics and plant breeding, molecular biology, biotechnology, biochemistry, physiology, pathology and social sciences under a single umbrella. The beneficiaries include scholars, academicians, scientists and researchers at universities, institutes, industries, government organizations and policy makers who wish to equip themselves with the current research on wheat and barley crop with future agenda of sustainable and quality production for attaining the sustainable development goal of the United Nations. This book also contains necessary information that will help the beginners to understand progressive genetic gain research and practical stress management options in these two crops. We are assertive that the present book volume will be a landmark as the chapters contain updated information as well as the views conveyed by the wheat and barley researchers based on their vast experience and expertise in the wheat and barley research domain. We thank all the eminent authors and oblige their valuable contributions towards enhancing the quality of the book. Undoubtedly, ‘New Horizon in Wheat and Barley Research: Global Trends, Breeding and Quality Enhancement’ is a timely and much warranted book considering the significant impact of wheat and barley crops in mitigating the global nutrition crisis.

Text in English