Gene editing using CRISPR-based methods have been given the status of non-GMO provided it is SDN1 or SDN2 type by Indian government and several other countries are taking a similar or simpler regulatory path. This ‘new breeding tool’ has an immense potential to introduce desired alleles with precision in a relatively short time. The understanding of which alleles to target and why would be fundamental to successful implementation of this technology. The strategy for editing an allele of a well understood genetic pathway would be much simpler as compared with where several ‘unknowns’ exist. Additionally, the available vectors, vector components, methodology will need modification to adapt to crops where regeneration itself is a bottleneck. The talk will focus of some of the efforts in this direction specially in dryland crops. Editing of PDS gene in pigeonpea and groundnut has been successful. A multi-omics approach revealed that the resistance to aflatoxin in groundnut is associated with secondary cell wall thickening due to deposition of hydroxycinnamic acid amides and lignins. Vectors with morphogenic genes co-created. The talk will focus on some of these early successes and discuss the challenges that exist in implementing editing for crop improvement.