Environmental stress is one of the major limiting factors for agricultural
productivity worldwide. Plants are closely associated with the environment where they
grow and adapt to the varying conditions brought about by the huge number of
environmental factors resulting in abiotic stress. Abiotic factors or stressors include
high or low temperature, drought, flooding, salinity, mineral nutrient deficiency,
radiation, gaseous pollutants, and heavy metals. High salinity, drought, cold, and heat
are the major factors influencing crop productivity and yield. The negative impact of
various abiotic stress factors is the alteration in the plant metabolism, growth, and
development and, in severe cases, plant death. Abiotic stress has been becoming a
specific concern in agriculture leading to unbearable economic loss to the breeders.
Thus, understanding these stresses will help in achieving the long-term goal of crop
improvement, therefore, minimizing the loss in crop yield to cope with increasing food
requirements. With this chapter, an attempt has been made to present an overview of
various environmental factors that are hostile to plant growth and development, thereby
leading to great loss in crop yield.
Keywords: Abiotic stress, Crop yield, Drought, Heat, Salinity.
