Surinder Sud: Killing deficiencies

FARM VIEW

Bridging the deficiency of micronutrients in the Indian diet is the aim of a new project that has several entities joining hands.

Biofortification is a novel mantra conceived by agricultural scientists to address the menace of rampant malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiency in India, especially among the poor. This basically involves the enhancement of essential mineral and vitamin content of staple foods like rice, wheat, maize, bajra (pearl millet), pulses and the like so that people could get the required amounts of these micronutrients through their normal diets.

A recent World Bank study has reckoned that as many as 75 per cent of the pre-school children in India suffer from iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and 57 per cent have sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency. Iodine deficiency is endemic in nearly 85 per cent of all the districts in the country.

Such deficiencies of key micronutrients and vitamins generally lead to a variety of illnesses, blindness, impaired mental development and even premature deaths in severe cases. India has one of the world's largest populations of blind people. The study has assessed the annual economic loss due to micronutrient deficiencies-driven productivity decline at a whopping $2.5 billion annually.

To combat this problem, a collaborative programme has recently been initiated to step up the nutritional status of some key foods. Called the 'India biofortification programme', this initiative will be carried out jointly by a large number of Indian research institutions and HarvestPlus, an international research programme being managed by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). This will be entirely a public funded research programme supported by the Indian government and HarvestPlus which, in turn, runs on donations from the member countries of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). A memorandum of understanding has already been signed to this effect between the government and HarvestPlus.

Under the new project, food products' inherent content of micronutrients like vitamin A, iron, zinc and so on, will be augmented so that at least 50 per cent of the estimated average requirement of these nutrients could automatically be met. This target is based on the assumption that the other 50 per cent of the requirement is already provided for in the diet. What is really significant about this unique effort is that this goal is sought to be achieved largely through conventional breeding. This will keep at bay the resistance that transgenic foods generally encounter from various quarters.

The Indian institutions participating in this project include the Delhi-based Indian Agricultural Research Institute (Pusa Institute), Roorkee's Indian Institute of Technology, the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition, Chennai's M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Pune's Agharkar Research Institute and the agricultural universities located at Ludhiana, Dharwad, Coimbatore, Raipur and Almora, among others.

The project will enable the scientists of HarvestPlus and these institutes to exchange research samples and data relevant for advancing biofortification research; share methods and approaches for measuring minerals and vitamin contents of staple foods and the impact of biofortified foods on human health; and engage in joint activities aimed at alleviating micronutrient malnutrition in the country.

According to HarvestPlus director Howarth Bouis, the targets fixed for biofortification of most crops are likely to be achieved in the next three to seven years. In the case of the enrichment of rice, wheat and pearl millet with zinc, the target is likely to be hit between 2012 and 2014. Pearl millet with suitably enhanced iron content may, in fact, be released even earlier, between 2010 and 2012. Where iron fortification of wheat is concerned, half the target (25 per cent of the average requirement) may be achieved within this overall time frame.

In fact, in the case of the orange-flesh sweetpotato, the aim of boosting the vitamin A content to meet 50 per cent of the estimated average requirement has already been achieved. A pilot study on feeding people with vitamin A-enriched orange-flesh sweetpotato in Mozambique has indicated that consumers will switch over from the normal white sweetpotato to the new version. Significantly, this sweetpotato is being released in Orissa, too, under a project of the International Potato Centre with its headquarters in Lima, Peru.

Indeed, considering the importance of this venture in improving the nutritional status of the masses, as also the economic benefits that can be expected to accrue from its outcome, it needs to be accorded due priority. Of course, most of the institutions which are going to be associated with this project are already well equipped to handle this work. But in case they require any additional facilities""in terms of equipment and manpower""they should get them promptly so that the projected time-frame is adhered to.