Ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and also promoting sustainable agriculture is one of the major Sustainable Development Goals. Millets- a group of highly variable small-seeded grasses- provide an ideal solution. Today, just four crops - rice, wheat, corn and soybean- represent 60 percent of the global calorie used. Diversification from the conventional food-systems is very much required. Millets are nutrient-dense, climate resilient, economically viable and locally adaptable. They possess high micronutrient content like iron, zinc, calcium, high dietary fibre content, vitamins and minerals. Millets are good candidate for health food, with gluten-free proteins, high fibre content, low glycemic index and rich bioactive compounds. In millets, finger millet is the richest source of calcium with eight times higher content than wheat. Other millets like pearl millet, barnyard millet and foxtail millet contains high amount of iron and zinc in comparison to cereals. Millets are also good source of β-carotene and B-vitamins especially riboflavin, niacin and folic acid. Millets are climate resilient with tolerance to drought, high temperature, salinity etc. Unfortunately, millets are under- utilized and under-researched. To eradicate ‘hunger’ and ‘hidden hunger’, millets need to be revived. All aspects of millets research should be intensified and appropriately highlighted. Enhanced millet cultivation and consumption shall help in bridging nutrition gaps on one hand and address ecological crisis stemming from modern intensive agriculture on the other. With this background, American Journal of Plant Biology is proud to propose a special issue on “Nutrition through Millets: Are We Ready for Zero Hunger?”

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