Biofortification: Enhancing Nutritional Value In Crops

Biofortification is a sustainable solution to the micronutrient malnutrition problem in the world through enhancing the nutritional density of staple foods using different approaches. It mainly deals with the issue of hidden hunger which affects billions of people, especially from the developing world where their diets lack micronutrients. Crops like rice, wheat, maize, beans and others fortified with iron, zinc and vitamins among others assist in increasing the bioavailability of these nutrients in economic terms. Agronomic biofortification involves the use of fertilizers with micronutrients, conventional breeding involves choosing crop varieties with high nutrient density from a pool of germplasm while genetic engineering has the added advantage of precise nutrient enhancement seen in the case of golden rice – beta-carotene. Obstacles include socio-economic ones, culture, and regulatory factors present are the facts, but organizations such as HarvestPlus have proven the ability of biofortified crops in the fight against malnutrition. The prospects involve scaling up and shifting to multi-nutrient biofortification, as well as other types of genetic engineering in order to meet the nutritive needs. Changes in the policy and sharpening the community’s perception of the importance of the cultivation of biofortified crops within agricultural systems are central to improving dietary quality and thus the well-being across the human population.