Crop improvement mainly relied upon either existing variation or by creating new variation by altering DNA sequence. However, gene expression changes are also being considered to be important for improvement of various traits in crops. MicroRNAs are one such regulators of gene expression at post transcriptional level. MicroRNAs are small 20-24 nucleotide RNA molecules that cleave corresponding mRNA or inhibit its translation. In view of this, we will discuss biogenesis of miRNAs, techniques to determine their function, their role in controlling various traits, strategies to use miRNAs for crop improvement, challenges associated with miRNA based crop improvement and prospects for using miRNAs in crop improvement.