Forage Crops in the Omics Era

This contributed book covers forage crops grown in different parts of the world and focuses on the use of biotechnological and genomic techniques for breeding forage crops and their application in these crops.

Forage crops are grown specifically to be utilized as feed for livestock and are typically high in nutritional value. They play a crucial role in animal husbandry, providing essential nutrients for the health and productivity of livestock, and are essential for sustainable livestock farming, as they can reduce reliance on purchased feeds and promote efficient nutrient cycling within agricultural systems. They also contribute to soil conservation and can be integrated into crop rotation systems to improve overall farm productivity and resilience. Forage crop research has seen significant advancements in the omics era, which encompasses disciplines such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and others. These technologies have revolutionized the way we understand, breed, and manage forage crops, leading to improvements in yield, quality, and resilience. This book covers the application of genomics, biotechnology, and the digital revolution in most forage crop species. The application of DNA molecular markers in these groups of plants has been elaborated. Further topics include the use of transgenic technology and genome editing in forage crops. The book also discusses the possibility of artificial intelligence application for precise breeding and production of forage crops.

This book will serve as an essential resource for work done in recent years on the use of genomics and biotechnological applications for forage crop improvement strategies. Students, scientists, and breeding communities with an interest in forage crop cultivation, breeding, and the application of novel biotechnological approaches for the development of climate-resilient cultivars will find this book useful.

Dr Faheem Shehzad Baloch is a Professor of Plant Genetics and Breeding at Mersin University. He received his PhD on QTL mapping in wheat from Çukurova University, Turkey, in 2012. With over 12 years of experience in plant genetics, genomics and biotechnology, he focuses on NGS, molecular markers, GWAS & genomic prediction, especially in legume-cereal. He led national and international projects, supervised MSc, PhD and post-doc students. He participated in international conferences and has over 150 publications, co-edited 13 books and more than 5300 citations with an h-index of 38.

Dr Muhammad Azhar Nadeem is an Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics at the Department of Biotechnology, Mersin University, Türkiye. His research focuses on genetic diversity and GWAS in legumes, particularly on bean-lentil to identify genomic regions linked to agronomic and quality traits. He has over 90 SCI/SCIE publications and more than 10 chapters. He is participating in various national and international projects. He also serves on the editorial boards of international journals and actively involved in various COST actions. He edited 6 books and has over 4000 citations with an h-index of 30.

Dr Rüştü Hatipoğlu is a Professor of Forage Crops and Plant Biotechnology at Kırsehir Ahi Evran University, Türkiye. He has extensive experience in forage crop production, breeding and genomics. His research focuses on agronomy and breeding of forage crops, especially forage grasses, using conventional & biotechnological methods. He published over 50 SCI/SCIE articles and has more than 3000 citations with an h-index of 25.

Dr Nafiz Çeliktaş is a Professor in the Department of Field Crops at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Türkiye, specializing in forage crops and pasture management. He earned his PhD from Çukurova University with a focus on sainfoin tissue culture. Starting his academic career in 2002, he became Associate Professor in 2007 and Professor in 2012. He also spent three years working in Kyrgyzstan. His research focuses on plant tissue culture, haploidization, cryopreservation of endangered species, pasture ecosystem dynamics & bioenergy farming, including second-generation bioethanol production.

Dr Muhammad Aasim is a Professor at the Department of Plant Protection, Sivas University of Science and Technology, Turkey since 2020. He earned his PhD with honors from Ankara University in 2010. He has worked as Assistant and Associate Professor at several Turkish universities. His research focuses on plant biotechnology, tissue culture, genetic transformation, phytoremediation, biopesticides and nanoparticles. He published over 100 SCIE articles, edited 3 books, written 25 chapters and has an h-index of 29 with over 2500 citations.

Prof Abdulqader Jighly is co-founder of AgriSapiens Statistical Solutions and a guest professor at Qingdao Agricultural University, China. With over 14 years of experience, he developed innovative statistical models combining diverse data types to improve agricultural selection decisions. Previously, he led the Computational Biology team at Agriculture Victoria, Australia, managing over 25 researchers and initiating global collaborations. He teaches at the University of Melbourne and serves as Associate Editor for The Plant Genome Journal. He mentors many PhD and master’s students in applying statistical tools.

Dr Ajit Singh is an Associate Professor of Agronomy at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. He earned his PhD from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, focusing on legume-cereal rotations and soil fertility. His research covers urban agriculture with LED-integrated hydroponics, precision farming, nitrogen fixation in underutilized legumes and converting food waste into resources. He published 159 works, including 74 journal articles and 6 chapters. He supervised postgraduate students in PhD, MRes and MSc programs.