Role of Millets for Food Security Under Climate Change

The accelerating impacts of climate change pose significant threats to global food security, highlighting critical vulnerabilities within the agricultural system. As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, global temperatures have increased by 0.6°C over the 20th century, with projections indicating further increases of 0.1°C-2°C per decade. These trends are expected to reduce crop productivity and food availability, potentially leaving up to three billion people undernourished by 2050. Therefore, diversification of agricultural cropping systems is crucial, especially through the incorporation of underutilized and resilient crops like millets. Millets, a group of small-seeded grasses, exhibit tolerance to both biotic and abiotic stress and can thrive under harsh environmental conditions such as poor soil fertility, low rainfall, drought, and salinity, making them particularly suitable for climate-vulnerable agro-ecosystems. As C4 crops, they have high photosynthetic efficiency and shorter growth durations than many C3 staples. These small-grain cereals are rich sources of gluten-free proteins, dietary fiber, vitamins, and essential minerals, and can contribute to improved nutritional security. Additionally, bioactive compounds present in grains offer therapeutic properties against various disorders and diseases, highlighting their promising nutraceutical potential. Furthermore, advances in biotechnological approaches, including molecular markers and genetic improvement techniques, offer opportunities to enhance stress tolerance and nutritional traits. This review provides insights into millets' role in food security, nutrition, and pharmaceuticals, examines their stress-adaptive traits, and discusses advances in genomics and biotechnology. Although it integrates findings from previous studies, this review presents a new integrative perspective focused on enhancing millet cultivation within agricultural systems.