Biofortification is the process of breeding crops so as to increase their nutritional quality. This is done through the method of general selective breeding, or through genetic engineering techniques. The bio fortified food crops, includes cereals, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. They provide plenty of micronutrients to malnourished populations.
Some common examples of bio fortified food crops: Iron bio fortified– Rice, sweet potato, legumes, beans, cassava. Zinc bio fortified – Rice, wheat, sweet potato, maize, beans. Provitamin A carotenoid bio fortified– Cassava, maize, sweet potato.
Bio fortified crops are commonly cultivated and consumed by about 20 million people. They include staples like rice, wheat, corn, cassava, to broccoli and bananas.
Improve protein content and nutritional value, oil, vitamin and mineral content value. Bio fortification helps to fulfil our overall health improvement .Those crops can more fight against diseases, pests, droughts, etc. and supplies better yields.
Bio fortification is a revolutionary process which improves plant nutrition and reduces our micronutrient deficiency. Fertilizers helps to increase crop production , but use of too much fertilizer creates problem as it causes the greenhouse gases to release and leads to eutrophication.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi in 2020 dedicated to the Nation 17 varieties of 8 bio fortified crops currently developed. The incident marked the highest initiative taken by the government to develop agriculture and nutrition to completely eradicate hunger, malnutrition and undernourishment in India.
The bio fortified crop varieties are 1.5 to 3.0 times more nutritious than the conventional types. The rice variety CR DHAN 315 has more zinc; the Wheat variety HD 3298 , DBW 303 and DDW 48 are more rich in iron and protein. The Maize hybrid varieties 1, 2 and 3 are rich in lysine and tryptophan, etc.
The PM stressed that the improved varieties of crops are gained by the hard labour of the Indian farmers in . He further stressed that he will link the crops with the several government programmes like -Mid-Day Meal, Anganwadi, etc., to make India free from the problem of malnutrition. He emphasised that this will in turn increase the income of the farmers.