Grain legumes are important sources of proteins, essential micronutrients and vitamins and for human nutrition. Climate change, including drought, is a severe threat to grain legume production throughout the world. In this review, the morpho-physiological, physio-biochemical and molecular levels of drought stress in legumes are described. Moreover, different tolerance mechanisms, such as the morphological, physio-biochemical and molecular mechanisms of legumes, are also reviewed. Moreover, various management approaches for mitigating the drought stress effects in grain legumes are assessed. Reduced leaf area, shoot and root growth, chlorophyll content, stomatal conductance, CO₂ influx, nutrient uptake and translocation, and water-use efficiency (WUE) ultimately affect legume yields. The yield loss of grain legumes varies from species to species, even variety to variety within a species, depending upon the severity of drought stress and several other factors, such as phenology, soil textures and agro-climatic conditions. Closure of stomata leads to an increase in leaf temperature by reducing the transpiration rate, and, so, the legume plant faces another stress under drought stress. The biosynthesis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the most detrimental effect of drought stress. Legumes can adapt to the drought stress by changing their morphology, physiology and molecular mechanism. Improved root system architecture (RSA), reduced number and size of leaves, stress-induced phytohormone, stomatal closure, antioxidant defense system, solute accumulation (e.g., proline) and altered gene expression play a crucial role in drought tolerance. Several agronomic, breeding both conventional and molecular, biotechnological approaches are used as management practices for developing a drought-tolerant legume without affecting crop yield. Exogenous application of plant-growth regulators (PGRs), osmoprotectants and inoculation by Rhizobacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi promotes drought tolerance in legumes. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs), genomic selection (GS), marker-assisted selection (MAS), OMICS-based technology and CRISPR/Cas9 make the breeding work easy and save time in the developmental cycle to get resistant legumes. Several drought-resistant grain legumes, such as the chickpea, faba bean, common bean and pigeon pea, were developed by different institutions. Drought-tolerant transgenic legumes, for example, chickpeas, are developed by introgressing desired genes through breeding and biotechnological approaches. Several quantitative trait loci (QTLs), candidate genes occupying drought-tolerant traits, are identified from a variety of grain legumes, but not all are under proper implementation. Hence, more research should be conducted to improve the drought-tolerant traits of grain legumes for avoiding losses during drought.

Abiotic stresses varyingly affect the grain composition and quality of food legumes. This paper is aimed at discussing the impact of abiotic stresses on the grain composition and quality of food legumes. As protein is the main grain constituent of food legumes for which it is being consumed by humans as a cheap protein source, abiotic stresses such as heat, cold, drought, salinity and heavy metals alter this grain protein content in different dimensions for different food legumes. Moreover, other valuable constituents such as starch, soluble sugar, oil, fatty acid and fiber content are affected differently by the abiotic stresses. The diverse impact of these abiotic stresses ultimately declines the grain quality and yield of food legumes. As food legumes play a vital role in the nutritional diet of millions of people in the world and are occasionally denoted as the meat of poor people, it is important to recognize that the sustainable production of food legumes, even under various environmental stresses, has the potential to ensure protein security for people globally. Therefore, it has become a necessity to improve the productivity and quality of food legumes under abiotic stresses through proper crop management and improved breeding strategies, thus enhancing food and economic security to the farmers, particularly in the developing countries of the world.

During the 2018-2019 Boro season (dry season), 70 rice genotypes were examined with alpha lattice experimental design with the goal of measuring grain yield stability analysis. Results indicated that AMMI analysis explained 100% of the G×E variance, while captured 81.74% variance. Based on the GGE and AMMI analysis, the most stable and high yielding genotype was identified G41 followed by G22, G26, G58, G24 and G61. The AMMI 1 biplot analysis revealed that the first primary component of interaction (IPC1) factor was responsible for 64.2 % variation due to G × E interaction. On other hand, the second primary component (PC2) factor accounted for 35.8% variation of the G × E interaction. These two-primary component (PC1 and PC2), all together accounted for 100% variation of the G × E interaction. The contribution of G68 was highest to the interaction followed by G70, G58, G42, G61, G45, G38, G14, G33, G60, G53, and G9. Best environment analysis indicated that the ranking was Rajshahi < Gazipur < Cumilla. GGE biplot analysis accounted for 81.74% variation comprising two principal components PC1 and PC2 with 45.62% and 36.12% variations respectively. Rajshahi was more stable than Gazipur. Based on environment analysis genotypes, G22, G26, G58, and G44 can be recommended as best stable genotypes that breeding zone. However, the genotype G61 was identified adapted to Cumilla breeding zone.

Kenaf (H. cannabinus L.) is an economically important bast fibre crop whose seed production is often constrained by poor flowering, pod set and inconsistent seed quality under late-season cultivation in Bangladesh. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of foliar gibberellic acid (GA3) applications on growth, yield and seed quality of two improved varieties (BJRI Kenaf 4 and BJRI Kenaf 5) under a standardized top-cutting regime. A two-factor factorial field experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications during the kharif-late season. Treatments comprised five GA3 concentrations (25, 50, 75, 100 and 125 ppm) with an untreated control (0), applied twice at 7 and 14 days after top-cutting (30 DAT). Results indicated significant varietal, GA3 and interaction effects on plant growth, reproductive traits and seed quality. Plant height increased progressively up to 75 ppm GA3 (224–226 cm) before declining at higher concentrations. Branch number per plant peaked at 75–100 ppm (8.0–8.2 branches), with similar trends observed for pods per plant (50–52 pods), seeds per pod (28–29) and thousand-seed weight (32–32.5 g). Seed yield was maximized at 75 ppm GA3, reaching 1450–1470 kg ha-¹, representing a 70% increase over the untreated control. Seed quality attributes improved with GA3, with germination percentage (96–97%) and vigor index (≈2050) peaking at 100 ppm, while electrical conductivity of seed leachates was lowest at 75 ppm, indicating superior membrane integrity. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive associations between seed yield and plant height (r = 0.87), thousand-seed weight (r = 0.82), and vigor index (r = 0.76), highlighting their utility as selection criteria for yield improvement. Overall, moderate GA3 concentrations (50–75 ppm) were most effective for enhancing seed yield and quality in kenaf under top-topping management. These findings provide a practical, low-cost strategy for improvement of kenaf seed production and offer a physiological basis for integration of GA3 into varietal improvement and seed technology programs.