The efficiency with which plants use nutrients to create biomass and/or grain is determined by the interaction of environmental and plant intrinsic factors. The major macronutrients, especially nitrogen (N), limit plant growth and development (1.5–2% of dry biomass) and have a direct impact on global food supply, fertilizer demand, and concern with environmental health. In the present time, the global consumption of N fertilizer is nearly 120 MT (million tons), and the N efficiency ranges from 25 to 50% of applied N. The dynamic range of ideal internal N concentrations is extremely large, necessitating stringent management to ensure that its requirements are met across various categories of developmental and environmental situations. Furthermore, approximately 60 percent of arable land is mineral deficient and/or mineral toxic around the world. The use of chemical fertilizers adds to the cost of production for the farmers and also increases environmental pollution. Therefore, the present study focused on the advancement in fertilizer approaches, comprising the use of biochar, zeolite, and customized nano and bio-fertilizers which had shown to be effective in improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) with lower soil degradation. Consequently, adopting precision farming, crop modeling, and the use of remote sensing technologies such as chlorophyll meters, leaf color charts, etc. assist in reducing the application of N fertilizer. This study also discussed the role of crucial plant attributes such as root structure architecture in improving the uptake and transport of N efficiency. The crosstalk of N with other soil nutrients plays a crucial role in nutrient homeostasis, which is also discussed thoroughly in this analysis. At the end, this review highlights the more efficient and accurate molecular strategies and techniques such as N transporters, transgenes, and omics, which are opening up intriguing possibilities for the detailed investigation of the molecular components that contribute to nitrogen utilization efficiency, thus expanding our knowledge of plant nutrition for future global food security.

Climate change and global warming are the foremost anthropogenically accelerated catastrophes that are already causing world-wide challenges, but threaten to thwart global food, environmental and nutritional security in the future. Climate change affects ecosystem services and interactions between biotic and abiotic factors. The most drastic consequences have been observed in the agricultural and livestock sector, with diminished production and productivity potential. Agriculture and allied sectors contribute markedly to the production of greenhouse gases; however, integrated management practices can be used to curtail greenhouse gas emissions and its adverse impacts. Forage crops and their wild relatives maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services and minimise the drastic effects of climate change. Forage crops adapted to harsh environments have certain unique features such as perenniality, deep root system, high resource-use efficiency (light, nutrients and water), and low production of methane and N2O, making them suitable for future use under climate change. This review highlights the prominent features of various cultivated and rangeland forage crops that may be crucial to understanding impacts of climate change. We discuss the wild relatives of forage crops, which are often adapted for multiple stresses, and highlight their mechanisms for adaptation under climate change. We consider the advanced breeding and biotechnological tools useful for developing climate-smart forage crops. This review provides novel insight into forage crops and their wild relatives in terms of their exploitation in future stress breeding programmes and paths for developing climate-resilient crops.