Drought stress is a key restraint to crop productivity worldwide, specifically in arid and semi-arid regions. It can lead to physiological and biochemical changes ultimately leading to oxidative burst. Finger millet, often considered an orphan crop, is known to be drought tolerant and a rich source of calcium. In the present work, responses of four finger millet varieties, at seedling stage, to PEG-induced moderate and extreme water stress have been documented. Physiological and biochemical aspects were studied based on which the finger millet varieties were designated as drought tolerant and sensitive. On enhancing the degree of water stress, significant (p<0.01) reduction in the physiological parameters was observed followed by enhanced accumulation of antioxidant enzymes. Moreover, we found GP-45 and GE-1437 as tolerant genotypes, which showed better drought tolerance as expressed by the chosen parameters in comparison to the susceptible GP-1 and GE-3885. The results lead us to speculate that inherent nutrient and genetic variation may play a role in drought tolerance. The tolerant varieties maintain theirnutritional value and ROS homeostasis. In future, it will be interesting to explore the biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved in drought tolerance and susceptible responsiveness for further crop improvement.

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