Abstract: The need to develop plants with higher resistance to environmental stresses has increased tremendously in the last forty years. Drought (water stress) and salinity are major problems facing agriculture allover the world. Much work have been done to determine the anatomical, physiological and biochemical features that are consistently associated with the response and resistance to water stress and salinity during different stages of growth and development and because leaf area is a major determinant of photosynthesis and yield of crop plants, it should be considered in any serious program to improve the resistance of crop plants under stress conditions. Thus, the present review focuses on the analysis of plant and leaf growth and the growth variables and processes that might be affected by osmotic stresses; which could be considered as parameters for screening drought and salinity traits in crop plants, thereby can be used in the breeding programs and/or in the modern technology to improve resistance to those environmental conditions. Also, the recent efforts of drawing the perspectives of improving plant adaptation under osmotic stress through the linking of leaf growth variables and the genetic approach are discussed.