Biofortified Crops: How India Can Move from Calorie Security to Nutrition Security
A recent expert analysis argued that biofortified crops (crops bred to carry more vitamins and minerals in the grain itself) could shape the next phase of Indian agriculture.
The central idea: India has largely achieved calorie security (enough grain to fill stomachs), but not nutrition security (enough vitamins, minerals and protein for good health).
The analysis called the shift towards nutrient-rich crops one of the most important changes Indian farming can make, because "hidden hunger" (a lack of micronutrients like iron, zinc and vitamin A) is still widespread.
India's public research system, led by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), has already released a large number of biofortified varieties of rice, wheat, maize, millets, pulses and oilseeds.
The challenge now is to get these seeds to farmers at scale and into the food people actually eat, including through government food schemes.
Biofortification
Biofortification means breeding food crops so that the edible part of the plant (the grain, the tuber, the fruit) naturally contains more vitamins and minerals. Instead of adding nutrients to food later in a factory, the plant itself is made more nutritious while it grows in the field. A farmer simply sows the improved seed and harvests a more nourishing crop. Common examples are high-iron pearl millet, high-zinc wheat and rice, and orange sweet potato rich in vitamin A.
The analysis argues that India's next farm goal should be nutrition security, not just more grain. Biofortification is the tool for that shift, because it puts iron, zinc, vitamin A and protein into the grains India already grows and eats. The real test now is getting these seeds onto farms and into public food schemes.
Food Fortification: Rationale, Science and FSSAI Standards
Food fortification means adding extra vitamins and minerals to commonly eaten foods while they are being processed. For example, iodine is added to salt, and iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 are added to rice. The food looks, tastes and costs almost the same, but it gives more nutrition. It is one of the cheapest ways to reduce micronutrient deficiency across a whole population.
Fortification and biofortification are two routes to the same goal of nutrition security. India already fortifies rice in the PDS, ICDS and PM POSHAN. The news argues for adding nutrients at the farm itself through biofortified crops, which would work even in villages where processed fortified food does not reach.
Green Revolution in India
The Green Revolution was the big jump in India's food production that began in the mid-1960s. It came from high-yielding seeds of wheat and rice, along with irrigation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. It turned India from a country dependent on food aid into one that grows enough grain to feed itself. It gave India calorie security, but it also made diets depend heavily on rice and wheat.
The Green Revolution solved the problem of "enough food", but not "enough nutrition". The news argues that biofortification can be the next step: keep the gains in quantity, and now raise the quality of the grain itself.
- Biofortification: nutrients bred into the crop; food fortification: nutrients added during processing
- India released 152 biofortified varieties in 2014–2024; only 1 existed before 2014 (government data)
- 109 varieties (61 crops) released on 11 August 2024; 17 biofortified varieties of 8 crops on 16 October 2020
- Dhanashakti: India's pioneering high-iron pearl millet (about 71 mg/kg iron)
- HarvestPlus founded 2003; 2016 World Food Prize for biofortification work
- NFHS-5: 67.1% children (6–59 months) and 57% women (15–49) anaemic; 35.5% children stunted
- Fortified rice in PMGKAY and other schemes extended to December 2028 (₹17,082 crore)
- India's foodgrain production: record 357.73 million tonnes (2024–25)