The Impacts of the Emerging Climate Change on Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenck.) Crop

Abstract

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenck.) is nowadays one of the most important vegetable crops worldwide, with an increasing demand by the market, due to its high nutritional value. Based on the optimal temperature range, its cultivation in the temperate regions takes place from late summer to late spring. Broccoli cultivation nowadays faces many challenges, such as the profitable production throughout the year, as well as during conditions of an increased temperature, induced by the emerging climate change, as well as the possibility of introducing the cultivation to subtropical and tropical areas. The modern genotypes (F1 hybrids) differ significantly among themselves in terms of the requirements for the head’s formation, which, however, has not been fully elucidated. In this direction, breeders have been developing programs internationally since the early 1990s, in order to create genotypes that will be adapted to temperatures higher than the optimal range, having, however, a relatively limited initial germplasm pool. The purpose of this review is to present extensively the temperature requirements in the broccoli crop production and to highlight the impacts of the emerging climate change.