# Rising Demand for Winter Crops Under Climate Change: Breeding for Winter Hardiness in Autumn-Sown Legumes

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how breeding winter-hardy legumes can help adapt to climate change by improving autumn sowing practices in the Pannonian region.

## Contribution

The paper integrates traditional and genomic breeding methods to develop winter-hardy legumes under climate change.

## Key findings

- Autumn sowing of legumes offers higher yields and better resource use than spring sowing.
- Winter hardiness is improved through traditional and genomic approaches like GWAS and CRISPR/Cas.
- Breeding programs have released cultivars like ‘NS-Mraz’ and ‘Lavinia F’ for overwintering success.

## Abstract

Climate change in the Pannonian region is accelerating a shift toward autumn sowing of cool-season grain legumes (pea, faba bean, lentil, chickpea, lupine) to achieve higher yields, greater biomass production, enhanced nitrogen fixation, improved soil cover, and superior resource use efficiency compared with spring sowing. However, successful overwintering depends on the availability of robust winter-hardy cultivars. This review synthesizes recent breeding advances, integrating traditional approaches—such as germplasm screening, hybridization, and field-based selection—with genomics-assisted strategies, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS), quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and CRISPR/Cas-mediated editing of CBF transcription factors. Key physiological mechanisms—LT50 determination, cold acclimation, osmoprotectant accumulation (sugars, proline), and membrane stability—are assessed using field survival rates, electrolyte leakage assays, and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements. Despite challenges posed by genotype × environment interactions, variable winter severity, and polygenic trait control, the release of cultivars worldwide (e.g., ‘NS-Mraz’, ‘Lavinia F’, ‘Ghab series’, ‘Pinklevi’, and ‘Rézi’) and ongoing breeding programs demonstrate substantial progress. Future breeding efforts will increasingly rely on genomic selection (GS), high-throughput phenomics, pangenomics, and G×E modeling to accelerate the development of climate-resilient legume cultivars, ensuring stable and sustainable production under increasingly unpredictable winter conditions.