Understanding plant–soil interactions underpins enhanced sustainability of crop production

The Green Revolution transformed agriculture with high-yielding, stress-resistant varieties. However, the urgent need for more sustainable agricultural development presents new challenges: increasing crop yield, improving nutritional quality, and enhancing resource-use efficiency. Soil plays a vital role in crop-production systems and ecosystem services, providing water, nutrients, and physical anchorage for crop growth. Despite advancements in plant and soil sciences, our understanding of belowground plant–soil interactions, which impact both crop performance and soil health, remains limited. Here, we argue that a lack of understanding of these plant–soil interactions hinders sustainable crop production. We propose that targeted engineering of crops and soils can provide a fresh approach to achieve higher yields, more efficient sustainable crop production, and improved soil health.