Biofortification of Staple Food Crops ,

Abstract

Deficiencies of vitamin A, iron, and zinc affect over one-half of the world's population. Progress has been made to control micronutrient deficiencies through supplementation and food fortification, but new approaches are needed, especially to reach the rural poor. Biofortification (enriching the nutrition contribution of staple crops through plant breeding) is one option. Scientific evidence shows this is technically feasible without compromising agronomic productivity. Predictive cost-benefit analyses also support biofortification as being important in the armamentarium for controlling micronutrient deficiencies. The challenge is to get producers and consumers to accept biofortified crops and increase their intake of the target nutrients. With the advent of good seed systems, the development of markets and products, and demand creation, this can be achieved.

Sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) analysis for genetic diversity and micronutrient content among gene pools in mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]

“…There are several approaches to biofortify crops, including agronomic biofortification (Cakmak 2008), genetic engineering (Brinch-Pederson et al 2007) and conventional or molecular breeding (Welch and Graham 2004). Among these approaches, breeding for micronutrient enhancement has been considered as the best strategy due to low and nonrecurrent expenditure and higher public acceptability (Nestel et al 2006;Ortiz-Monasterio et al 2007). HarvestPlus is a challenge program of Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) which aims at increasing the micronutrient contents of staple foods to reduce micronutrient malnutrition.…”

Fortification of micronutrients for efficient agronomic production: a review

“…In addition to enhancing crop nutritional quality, micronutrients, when efficiently translocated to seeds, could enhance seed vitality that then allows for good seed emergence and vigorous seedling growth (Welch and Graham 2002;Nestel et al 2006;Velu et al 2014). In this regard, Fig.…”

Biofortified crops to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition

“…In all cases, the costs of biofortification consistently constitute only a fraction of supplementation costs, and moreover, after the initial development and adoption phases, the use of biofortified crops requires little more than the costs for reliable seed production systems and deployment. The costs of breeding are moderate -in the range of $ 4 million per variety spread over 10 years -amounting to approximately 0.2% of the global vitamin A supplementation expenditures in the scenario described above over the same period [22 ]. The development and regulatory approval of a transgenic crop can be 5-8 times higher [23,24], still representing only a fraction of the sustained costs necessary for a classical public health intervention.…”