As the world’s population increases, the demand for food, feed, and fiber will increase. It
will be challenging to satisfy the increasing demand for agricultural commodities with the
reduced availability of water and land. Moreover, the threat of climate change will add
more hurdles to tackling it. Continuous breeding efforts and hybridization have enhanced
the yield and abiotic and biotic stress tolerance of agricultural crops. However,
technological interventions in crop improvement are needed to balance the supply-
demand ratio. Genetically modified (GM) crops have shown ways to enhance the
productivity of the crops in many countries. Stringent regulations and perceptions of
common people in some countries have curtailed the growth of GM crop research.
Decade-old gene editing interventions have generated hope for further crop
improvements. Comparatively less stringent regulations and; similar beneficial
alterations, like traditional mutagenesis techniques, but more precise ones and less time-
consuming, make gene editing techniques more affordable. Various economically
important traits are being developed by public institutions and private companies. Some
crops with GE traits are approved for commercial cultivation in selected countries, and a
long list of GE traits is in developmental stages. This technological intervention will
satisfy the continuous germplasm enrichment need for crop improvement.