Drought is an important environmental factor affecting plant growth and crop yield. The global climate change has strengthened the threat of drought stress on crop growth and grain production. Root system is the primary organ for plant to absorb water. It can adjust plant growth and development,support water uptake and transportation, thus enable plant to adapt to drought stress. It really plays an important role in drought and water-limited environments. The paper summarized the research progress on adaptivity of crop root structure to drought stress from the aspects of crop root system architecture and root anatomical structure,and analyzed the methods and present status of this study. It also pointed out the future development trend to realize extensive, accurate and rapid identification of root phenotypic traits by advanced method and innovated technology, thus to provide theoretical guidance for the screening and evaluation of drought-resistant and water-saving crop varieties.