Multiscale Emergence of Pre-Harvest Sprouting in Cereals: From Seed Dormancy to Field-Level Resilience

Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) represents a major threat to global food security under increasingly variable climatic conditions. Current understanding is largely derived from controlled laboratory studies, whereas field PHS is a multi-scale phenomenon resulting from interactions among genetic regulation, spike and grain traits, heterogeneous environmental conditions, and agronomic management. Our knowledge of PHS mechanisms under field conditions remains limited, and a systematic, integrated control framework is still lacking. In this review, we synthesise advances in the genetic architecture, physiological regulation, phenotypic determinants, and environmental factors of PHS in cereals, with emphasis on integrating multi-scale regulatory networks with environmental drivers. We particularly focus on laboratory-field discrepancies and how environmental heterogeneity influences grain quality deterioration and PHS outcomes under field conditions., and further evaluate current control strategies for PHS, including breeding, agronomic management, and chemical regulation, especially their limitations, environmental dependence, and associated trade-offs in practical application. Finally, we propose that future PHS control will require integrating field-relevant phenotypes, genotype × environment × management interactions, multi-scale predictive modelling, and decision-support systems to improve field-level resilience to PHS under increasingly variable climatic conditions.