Global climate change is expected to cause progressively increased frequency and severity of drought events, which further seriously limit plant growth and crop yields. Increasing water use efficiency (WUE) and yield per unit rainfall are one of the most important challenges in dry land agriculture. Here, we reviewed the comprehensive technical strategies including conserving water to combine both increased agricultural productivity and resource conservation; enquiring into how crop plants respond to drought through morphological, physiological, and molecular modifications that occur in all plant organs; breeding for drought tolerance where there is a delineated stress environment and genotype × environment interactions are stable; effective conservation of rainfall and high efficiency of use. In addition, we discussed the preponderance of biological water-saving measures, which embraces improvements in WUE and drought tolerance, by genetic improvement and physiological regulation. Sustainable agriculture would be benefited from modern engineering such as biological engineering, conservation tillage, and breeding technologies.

中文翻译：

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旱地农业环境与可持续生产力

预计全球气候变化将导致干旱事件的频率和严重性逐渐增加，这将进一步严重限制植物的生长和农作物的产量。提高水利用效率（WUE）和单位降雨量的产量是旱地农业面临的最重要挑战之一。在这里，我们回顾了综合技术策略，包括节水以兼顾提高农业生产力和节约资源；探讨作物植物如何通过所有植物器官中发生的形态，生理和分子修饰来应对干旱；在有明确的胁迫环境且基因型×环境相互作用稳定的地方进行抗旱育种；有效节约降雨，使用效率高。此外，我们讨论了生物节水措施的优势，其中包括通过基因改良和生理调节改善WUE和抗旱性。可持续农业将受益于生物工程，保护性耕作和育种技术等现代工程。