Realizing visionary goals for the International Year of Millet (IYoM): accelerating interventions through advances in molecular breeding and multiomics resources

Abstract

Leveraging advanced breeding and multi-omics resources is vital to position millet as an essential "nutricereal resource," aligning with IYoM goals, alleviating strain on global cereal production, boosting resilience to climate change, and advancing sustainable crop improvement and biodiversity. The global challenges of food security, nutrition, climate change, and agrarian sustainability demand the adoption of climate-resilient, nutrient-rich crops to support a growing population amidst shifting environmental conditions. Millets, also referred to as "Shree Anna," emerge as a promising solution to address these issues by bolstering food production, improving nutrient security, and fostering biodiversity conservation. Their resilience to harsh environments, nutritional density, cultural significance, and potential to enhance dietary quality index made them valuable assets in global agriculture. Recognizing their pivotal role, the United Nations designated 2023 as the "International Year of Millets (IYoM 2023)," emphasizing their contribution to climate-resilient agriculture and nutritional enhancement. Scientific progress has invigorated efforts to enhance millet production through genetic and genomic interventions, yielding a wealth of advanced molecular breeding technologies and multi-omics resources. These advancements offer opportunities to tackle prevailing challenges in millet, such as anti-nutritional factors, sensory acceptability issues, toxin contamination, and ancillary crop improvements. This review provides a comprehensive overview of molecular breeding and multi-omics resources for nine major millet species, focusing on their potential impact within the framework of IYoM. These resources include whole and pan-genome, elucidating adaptive responses to abiotic stressors, organelle-based studies revealing evolutionary resilience, markers linked to desirable traits for efficient breeding, QTL analysis facilitating trait selection, functional gene discovery for biotechnological interventions, regulatory ncRNAs for trait modulation, web-based platforms for stakeholder communication, tissue culture techniques for genetic modification, and integrated omics approaches enabled by precise application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Aligning these resources with the seven thematic areas outlined by IYoM catalyzes transformative changes in millet production and utilization, thereby contributing to global food security, sustainable agriculture, and enhanced nutritional consequences.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9; International Year of Millet (IYoM); Millets; Molecular breeding; Multi-omics resources; Pan-genome; Web resources.