HYDERABAD: As climate change tightens its grip, threatening global food systems, a quiet revolution is taking root in the city. As the morning sun warms the red soil, millet plants sway gently in the breeze across the bustling University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus. On a one-acre experimental farm — a living lab — tucked within the research grounds, foxtail, kodo and other grains rustle in the wind. Guided by a young team of scientists, these ancient crops are being reimagined for a climate-stressed world.
From tilling the soil to harvesting by hand, every step is carried out with care. Here, fieldwork meets genomics, where the sweat of the brow is matched by scientific precision, all in pursuit of developing climate-resilient, nutrient-rich grains.
Leading this effort is Dr Mehanathan Muthamilarasan, who launched The Millet Lab in 2020 with a clear mission: to decode the genetic makeup of millets and enhance their natural resilience through cutting-edge gene editing. In India, the world’s largest millet producer, this research couldn’t be more timely. With droughts, soil degradation and salinity threatening food systems, millets may hold the key to ensuring nutritional security in the years to come.
Dr Muthamilarasan notes a sharp contrast within the grass family: rice, wheat and millets may be botanical cousins, but when it comes to climate resilience, millets stand apart. Producing 1 kg of rice takes around 2,500 litres of water, compared to just 250 litres for the same amount of millets.
Rather than pushing for a sudden shift away from rice, his team is working on a visionary solution: identifying climate-resilient genes in foxtail millet (korralu in Telugu) and transferring them into rice through genetic engineering. So far, they’ve mapped over 500 key genes that could help staple crops survive extreme environmental stress.
Backed by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), the team recently identified a stress-associated protein gene in millets that enables the plant to endure extreme heat. This breakthrough could be pivotal in developing heat-tolerant crops, critical in an era of rising temperatures.
Researcher Pooja Shukla, who works closely on the project, tells TNIE, “We cultivate and study foxtail and kodo millets at our university farm.”
Their team has assembled a collection of over 300 diverse germplasms from ICRISAT and the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), fuelling in-depth studies. “Though foxtail millet genomes show broad similarity, each germplasm is genetically unique, making our research both challenging and fascinating,” she adds. The team now plans to expand their focus on kodo millet to uncover more of its hidden traits.
UoH is currently the only central university in India exclusively working on the genetic engineering and genome editing of millets.
The university also fosters public engagement through Millet-Utopia, an annual event for school students. The 2025 edition saw nearly 1,400 students from classes 8 to 10 take part in millet-themed competitions and farm visits, offering a hands-on glimpse into the science behind these ancient grains. “It’s heartening to see young minds excited about millets,” Dr Muthamilarasan tells this paper.
This year, UoH welcomed its largest batch of student interns from various institutions, marking another milestone in building a new generation of researchers committed to food security and climate resilience.