Short Notes on Biofortification

This article provides a short note on biofortification.

Biofortification may be defined as the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is improved through conventional plant breeding or the use of biotechnology. It is a promising new strategy to reduce hidden hunger. Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micro-nutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals including trace elements in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide public health benefit with minimum risk to health.

Firstly, as a food based intervention, biofortification uses very staple foods that the poor people are eating to deliver necessary micro-nutrients. Therefore, biofortified foods are more easily integrated into the livelihoods and diets of the poor. Secondly, it is an agricultural intervention targeted to rural areas where more than 75% of the poor live in developing countries where fortified foods and other urban based interventions are limited.

Thirdly, one time investment in breeding biofortified crops would provide micro-nutrients more cost effectively than through conventional means which have high annual recurring costs. Bio-fortified crops can be adapted to similar agro-ecological regions or improved at relatively low additional cost. Initial biofortification efforts focused on six staple crops for which pre breeding feasibility studies already completed: beans, cassava, maize, rice, sweet potato and wheat

Some examples of biofortification as given below:

Iron—biofortification or rice, beans, sweet potato, legumes and cassava.

Zinc—biofortification of wheat, rice, maize, beans.

Pro-vitamin A carotenoid—biofortification of sweet potato, maize, cassava.

Amino acid and protein—biofortification of sorghum, cassava.

The objectives of biofortification are short, medium and long terms.

Short term (1-4 years):

(i) To determine nutritionally optimal breeding objectives.

(ii) To screen Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) germ plasm for high iron, zinc and beta carotene levels.

(iii) To find out the genetics of high micro-nutrient levels and identify markers available to facilitate the transfer of traits through conventional or novel means or both.

(iv) Bio-efficacy studies to determine the effect of bio-fortified crops on micro-nutrients.

(v) Study in relation to dietary quality of poor people.

(vi) To determine the benefit – cost of plant breeding with respect to the reduction, of micro-nutrient malnutrition.

Medium term (5-7 years):

(i) Continuation of bio efficacy studies for improved varieties affecting micro-nutrient status of the human beings.

(ii) Farmer participation in the breeding programme.

(iii) Adaptation of high yielding varieties, conventionally bred and micro-nutrient riched cultivars.

(iv) Release of new conventionally biofortified varieties for farmers

(v) Identifying potential genes for increasing nutritional food value

(vi) Production of transgenic lines and screening for micro-nutrients

(vii) Social marketing and communications.

(viii) Production and distribution of improved varieties.

Long term (8-10 years):

(i) Scaling up production and distribution of improved varieties.

(ii) Undertaking nutritional impact studies identifying factors affecting the adoption of biofortified crops.

Biofortification makes a sense as part of an integrated food systems approach to reduce malnutrition. It addresses the root causes of micronutrient malnutrition, targets the poorest people, uses built-in delivery mechanisms, is scientifically feasible and cost effective and complements other ongoing methods of dealing with micro-nutrient deficiencies.