Can biofortified crops make India nutritionally secure? | In Focus podcast

In this episode, Suneetha Kadiyala speaks to us about the process of biofortified crops, and what the government can do to help increase its population’s access to nutritious food.

Many African and Asian countries, including India, are leaning towards the biofortification of crops. It is the process by which the nutrient density of food crops is increased by various means without sacrificing characteristic that is preferred by consumers or farmers. Thus, biofortified crops are more nutrient-dense than non-biofortified varieties.  

Experts believe that these crops can help end ‘hidden hunger’ or micronutrient malnutrition. 

Research is underway to add iron, Vitamin A, and Zinc to humble staple foods. Iron-biofortification of beans, cowpea and pearl millet, zinc-biofortification of maize, rice, and wheat, and pro-vitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of cassava, maize, rice, and sweet potato are currently underway and at different stages of development across the world. 

In August, PM Narendra Modi released 109 high yielding, climate resilient and biofortified varieties of crops at India Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. So, How can India get the best use of the process? And, what are the challenges involved in it? 

Guest: Suneetha Kadiyala, Professor of Global Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 

Host: Nivedita V 

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian