UoH Student Bags Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship for 2026–27 for Work on Foxtail Millet

Hyderabad: Pooja Shukla, a PhD scholar from University of Hyderabad (UoH). has been awarded the Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship for 2026-27 for her work on foxtail millet genetics which she will be taking to the United States for advanced research and global collaboration.Shukla from the department of plant sciences will pursue part of her doctoral research under Prof. James C. Schnable at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, focusing on the genetic basis of yield-related traits in foxtail millet, a crop she described as both under-studied and critical in the face of climate stress. “My objective is to understand the genetic diversity and delineate the genes that are playing a role in agronomic traits and yield-contributing traits.”The goal is to identify genes that can improve yield in a crop where grain size limits output. “We are trying to find the genes which are playing a role in improving the yield so that we have a less-input, more-yield crop,” Shukla said.Her research, guided by Dr M. Muthamilarasan, a Fulbright alumni himself, at UoH’s Millet Lab, combines high-throughput phenotyping, genome-wide association studies, and comparative genomics.Shukla said her interest in killers was largely due to the larger change in food systems and lack of research on these grains. “Our ancestors were relying on millets, but as the Green Revolution progressed, we lost touch with our ancient grains,” she said. “Now we are trying to bring them back and mainstream them because they are definitely nutritionally rich and when we talk about millets, not much research is done compared to rice, wheat and maize.”She also linked her work to climate concerns and farm practices. “When we talk about rice, around 3,000 litres of fresh water is required for a crop to give 1 kg of rice,” she said. “But when we talk about millets, minimal rain and minimal drip irrigation is sufficient.” The same traits, she added, make millets useful beyond their own cultivation. “If we understand millets better, we can also strengthen the genomics of other crops as well.”Her work in the United States will expand the scope of this research. “We will be using the collection that we have from India and the US collection to phenotype them at a deeper level using high-throughput phenotyping techniques,” she said. Shukla has also been involved in outreach through “Millet-Utopia,” an initiative that introduces school students to millets.Speaking about the fellowship process, she said, “Other than the research work and the merit of the proposal, they also focus on how a person will be an advantage as a cultural ambassador.” She encouraged more researchers to apply in future cycles. “It is very important for us to learn what they are doing and how it is being done, so that we can bring it back to our country and strengthen the research that happens in India.”



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