The Hindu Business Line : Nutrient-rich harvest

For many of us fortified foods are cereal packets with innocuous info such as `fortified with Vitamin A' printed on the nutritional chart. Today the concept of fortification has expanded to include the emerging science of biofortification. HarvestPlus is an international research programme that aims to fight micronutrient malnutrition through biofortification.

As Howarth Bouis, Director, HarvestPlus, explains, "Biofortification is the process of breeding food crops that are rich in biologically available micronutrients. We need to make nutrition more sustainable. Once it is in the food system, fortification and supplementation will continue to be important strategies in the fight to improve the nutritional status of poor people in developing countries. Biofortification will give the development community an additional tool, and one that is particularly cost-effective and sustainable."

International donors and governments spend millions to fight iron deficiency and its related problems. Recent statistics from the Micronutrient Initiative and the United Nations Children's Fund indicate that more than half the developing world's children between 6 months and 2 years are iron-deficient.

Rice is the main cereal crop in many developing countries and several Asian countries, providing 50-80 per cent of energy intake among the poor.

Supporting studies

In order to demonstrate that iron-rich rice can improve nutrition, members of 10 Catholic convents in the Philippines participated in a study organised by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), with support from the Asian Development Bank and the Micronutrient Initiative of Canada.

"This study provides `proof of concept' that biofortication can work," says Bouis. "We can breed rice and other staple crops with higher levels of micronutrients."

Nutrition experts advise that the best solution is a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables and meat, but the very poor depend predominantly on staple foods.

This is especially true in isolated rural areas, where commercially fortified foods neither reach nor are affordable. The effort is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Department for International Development (UK), Canadian International Development Assistance (CIDA), the Danish International Development Assistance (Danida), Swedish International Development Assistance (SIDA) and the Asian Development Bank, and coordinated by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). "Such seeds are relatively easy to manufacture... At this point, they are not GMO (genetically modified organisms). We are using conventional breeding," Bouis says.

The socio-economic group within the rice team is also researching how best to integrate the new varieties into welfare programmes such as the Public Distribution System in India and elsewhere.

Tackling obstacles

A common problem in many developing countries is the lack of delivery systems. However, in the biofortification approach when households grow micronutrient-rich crops, the delivery system for micronutrients is built into the food production and marketing process.

Little intervention or investment is needed once farmers adopt the new seed. Moreover, micronutrient-rich seed can easily be saved and shared by even the poorest households. Local agricultural committees and small farmer seed enterprises, in particular, will play a crucial role in reaching micronutrient-rich varieties to the growers.

"The process can complement food subsidy programmes to bring up the nutritional levels of the deprived," agrees Bouis. The biofortification programme covers commonly used food crops and the improved mineral content does not necessarily alter the appearance, taste, texture or cooking qualities of the crop.

And if the scientists can combine high micronutrient content with high yield, the programme's success is virtually guaranteed."The Indian government is among the first to invest in a big way in this strategy. They are putting in funds and working independent of HarvestPlus. We are trying to see how we can work together. One way to ensure that farmers like the new varieties is by giving them a say in which traits get bred into the plants," says Bouis.

More Stories on : Health | Bio-tech & Genetics | Foodgrains

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