Brazilian livestock farming is predominantly based on the use of pastures, since most of the country has soil and climate conditions favorable for growing forage crops and because this is the most economical way of feeding livestock. Tropical forages occupy most of the cultivated pasture areas, with predominance of the species Brachiaria brizantha and Panicum maximum, which together account for more than 90% of Brazilian tropical pasture areas. However, growing these forage species is hampered in areas exposed to frequent environmental stresses such as cold, prolonged dry periods and wet or waterlogged soils. Because of these restrictions, a significant land area that could be used for pasture formation has not been used due to the lack of cultivars adapted to adverse environmental conditions. Furthermore, the existence of legal restrictions on the occupation of untouched wilderness for establishing new pasture cultivations, mainly in the Amazon, demonstrates the need to recover areas with degraded pastures, as well as to incorporate into the pasture system areas currently considered marginal to pasture growing. Setaria sphacelata is a forage grass widely cultivated in several regions of the world because it has high production potential, good nutritional quality and wide adaptation to environments subject to intense cold, prolonged droughts and waterlogged soils, conditions in which most tropical forage species cannot be cultivated. Thus, setaria grass is a promising alternative for forage cultivation in Brazil in areas subject to environmental stress, enabling the use of marginal areas for the formation of pastures, the production of food with good nutritional value throughout the year and the reduction of production costs by reducing the use of concentrates and preserved roughage. Recently, Embrapa introduced from the United States (USDA/ARS) a collection of 80 Setaria sphacelata accessions with the aim of characterizing the germplasm and starting an improvement program for this forage. Considering the genetic variability existing in the germplasm, the productive potential and nutritional value, as well as the adaptive capacity to environments under abiotic stress, setaria grass reveals a high potential for adaptability to environmental stresses, requiring the development of improved populations aiming at adaptation to areas exposed to such conditions in different Brazilian biomes. The objective of this project was to obtain populations of setaria grass improved for yield, chemical composition, production of seeds without dormancy, as well as adapted to conditions of seasonal drought, cold and humid soils, aiming at the incorporation of areas subject to these environmental stresses for pasture cultivation. Considering the need for the involvement of multidisciplinary specialists in the development of improved populations, as well as the carrying out of adaptation tests in different Brazilian regions, researchers from Embrapa Dairy Cattle, Embrapa Acre, Embrapa Semi-arid Region and Embrapa Temperate Agriculture participated in the project. The innovation solutions generated in the project were: i) Setaria grass populations improved for low oxalate content and high nutritional value, presenting high potential for seed production with low dormancy. ii) Setaria grass population adapted to flooding and presenting high potential for seed production with low dormancy. iii) Setaria grass population adapted to cold conditions, presenting high potential for seed production with low dormancy. iv) Setaria grass population adapted to drought conditions and high potential for seed production with low dormancy. These solutions are contributing to the development of improved setaria grass cultivars and to meeting the expectations of customers, beneficiaries and users who demand forage cultivars adapted to cultivation in humid areas, subject to intense cold and seasonal drought, enabling the incorporation into the pasture system of marginal areas subject to abiotic stress. The recommendations of this project contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) numbers 2 and 8 (Zero Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture; and Decent Work and Economic Growth), of the 2030 Agenda, proposed by the United Nations, with a focus on goals 2.3 (Productivity of small producers) and 8.2 (Productivity - Diversification, technological modernization and innovation), given that it aims to make available a population of an important forage grass with adaptability to the extreme abiotic stress regimes that have occurred with recent climate change, without additional inputs to farmers.