Design strategies for enhanced sustainable green revolution productivity in rice

Modern agriculture relies heavily on resource-intensive and environmentally harmful inputs, while the increasing global population and decreasing arable land demand new strategies to improve sustainable productivity of cereal crops, particularly reducing inorganic nitrogen fertilizer use while simultaneously increasing photosynthesis and grain yield in rice. To improve rice productivity, it is essential to improve photosynthetic nitrogen assimilation and optimize the translocation of carbon and nitrogen products from source to sink tissues. In this review, we first summarize recent advances in the genetic basis for improving grain yield by enhancing photosynthetic carbon and nitrogen assimilation. We then discuss progress in modulating the source-sink relationships to achieve higher yield and improved harvest index. Finally, we explore the necessary optimizations for adapting rice to high-density planting. These advancements are driving the development of sustainable green revolution varieties through the rational design of multi-gene pyramids and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven protein engineering.