28 Dec Biofortification of food crops: A promising strategy to contain the malnutrition
खाद्य फसलों का जैवप्रबलीकरण या जैवसंवर्धन: कुपोषण दूर करने की प्रभावी रणनीति Nutrition (protein, vitamins and minerals) deficiency is one of the most important public health issue across the globe, particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries. Nutrient deficiency can be overcome by consuming a diverse diet. The other alternatives are supplementation and fortification but these are difficult to sustain on a long-term basis and fortified food is not affordable and available to poor people. Biofortification is a process to improve the nutritional value of crop plants through plant breeding, agronomic and transgenic approaches. Consumption of bio-fortified staple crops will help in the alleviation of malnutrition thereby it improves the human health condition. Presently, development of nutrient dense staple food crops is one of the prime research areas for the scientific community. Bio-fortification has been recognized as an economical and sustainable strategy that can be useful as a complementary solution to the problem of malnutrition. Basic approaches of Biofortification 1. Genetic Biofortification Staple crops often exhibits genetic variation in essential nutrient contents, which enable breeders to develop nutrient dense high yielding genotypes through conventional or molecular breeding approaches. Development of nutrient dense crops through conventional/ molecular breeding approaches is both economical and does not have any effect on consumer acceptance, unlike transgenic approaches. The success of plant breeding through conventional...