Towards nutrition security of India with biofortified cereal varieties

Abstract

Rice and wheat are the major staples contributing more than 75% to food-grain consumption, while maize, pearl millet and sorghum are important alter-native cereals in India. Cereal biofortification is one of the promising approaches to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition. Here we present an overview of the efforts towards development of biofortified cereal varieties enhanced with iron, zinc, protein and provitamin-A us-ing conventional breeding approaches, and the possi-bilities of scaling up and adoption to ease the burden of malnourishment.