Crop biofortification: a new stage in the development of India's agriculture

During the Green Revolution, the main objective was to overcome food shortages by increasing the tonnage of grain produced. However, breeding focused on yield and disease resistance, while intensive agriculture and unbalanced fertilizers degraded soil health. As a result, India faced nutrient deficiencies, and anemia along with zinc and iron deficiencies affect millions of residents despite adequate calorie intake.

Unlike conventional food fortification, where vitamins and minerals are added during processing or food production, biofortification improves the nutritional profile while the plants are still growing. Using traditional breeding methods, scientists develop cultivars that naturally accumulate more micronutrients from the soil without using genetic modification. Such crops do not look different from conventional ones, require no changes in preparation and taste, but contain approximately twice as much iron and zinc.

A foundation for this approach has already been established in India: the research organization ICAR has released over 150 biofortified cultivars of wheat, rice, pearl millet, sorghum, maize, and mustard. These crops are cultivated by farmers in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. The Better Nutrition organization collaborates with nearly 24,000 such producers to supply staple foods to households. This allows consumers to receive familiar products with natural nutritional value, and farmers to grow crops with higher value.