Abstract

Global agriculture productivity and output are seriously threatened by heavy metal toxicity, which reduces the potential yield of the main food crops. It lowers seed germination, causes oxidative stress, affects photosynthesis, and degrades physiological function in plants. The heavy metals are absorbed by plants from the polluted soils, and persons who consume the crops cultivated there suffer serious health problems. Humans and activities connected to humans are the main cause of HMT. As a result, it is crucial to address the HMT issue in agriculture. One of the most efficient ways to remove heavy metals from the soil is through agronomic treatments such as bioremediation, which may be done using either plants or bacteria. There have been reports of over 400 plant species acting as hyperaccumulators of different heavy metals. Breeders may create agricultural cultivars resistant to heavy metals by biotechnology and breeding techniques for broader adaption. For a variety of commercially significant food crops, several heavy metal resistant crop cultivars have been created and sold. Utilizing omics, gene editing, and high throughput screening technologies may hasten the production of new cultivars. In order to reduce the HMT problem in agriculture, we thus concentrate on assessing agronomic, breeding, and biotechnological treatments, as well as sensors for heavy metal detection to quicken the screening process.