PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Seed quality directly affects crop yields, germination rates, and plant vigour, so it is essential to agricultural productivity and food security. Conventional techniques for improving seed quality, like hybridization, selective breeding, and seed treatment, have advanced agriculture but have drawbacks in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and resistance to environmental stresses. Recent advances in biotechnology have transformed seed research by providing novel strategies to improve crop resilience and seed quality. This review thoroughly examines a number of biotechnological approaches that have greatly enhanced seed trait selection, disease resistance, and stress tolerance, such as genetic engineering, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and "omics" technologies (genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics). Furthermore, emerging technologies such as genome editing (CRISPR-Cas9), artificial intelligence (AI) applications in predictive breeding, nanotechnology for seed treatment, and synthetic biology for tailored crop development are examined for their transformative potential in agricultural sustainability. While these technologies offer promising solutions, challenges such as regulatory frameworks, ethical concerns, public acceptance, and accessibility in developing regions remain substantial barriers to widespread adoption. Leveraging biotechnological discoveries for future agricultural development will require addressing these issues through interdisciplinary research, regulatory changes, and technology improvements. In order to ensure global food security, this review attempts to give a thorough grasp of the most recent developments in seed quality enhancement as well as the future course of biotechnological applications.