Climate change is affecting all regions of the world with different climates, and the scale of damage is increasing due to the occurrence of various natural disasters. In particular, maize production is highly affected by abnormal climate events such as heat waves and droughts. Increasing temperatures can accelerate growth and shorten the growing season, potentially reducing productivity. Additionally, enhanced temperatures during the ripening period can accelerate the process, reducing crop yields. In addition, drought stress due to water deficit can greatly affect seedling formation, early plant growth, photosynthesis, reproductive growth, and yield, so proper water management is critical to maize growth. Maize, in particular, is tall and broad-leaved, so extreme drought stress at planting can cause leaves to curl and stunt growth. It is important to understand that severe drought can have a detrimental effect on the growth and reproduction of maize. In addition, high temperatures caused by drought stress can inhibit the induction of flowering in male flowers and cause factors that interfere with pollen development. It is therefore important to increase the productivity of all food crops, including maize, while maintaining them in the face of persistent drought caused by climate change. This requires a strategy to develop genetically modified crops and drought-tolerant maize that can effectively respond to climate change. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of climate change and drought tolerance on maize growth. We also reviewed molecular breeding techniques to develop drought-tolerant maize varieties in response to climate change.
Keywords: drought stress; heat stress; maize yield; molecular breeding; quantitative trait locus (QTL).