Biofortification of crops with minerals and vitamins Bioforti | Tirumal Classes IAS Academy

Biofortification of crops with minerals and vitamins

Biofortification is the process by which the nutrient density of food crops is increased through conventional plant breeding, and/or improved agronomic practices and/or modern biotechnology without sacrificing any characteristic that is preferred by consumers or most importantly to farmers.

It is recognized as a nutrition-sensitive-agriculture intervention that can reduce vitamin and mineral deficiency.

Hence, statement 1 is correct

Iron-biofortification of beans, cowpea and pearl millet, zinc-biofortification of maize, rice, and wheat, and pro-vitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of cassava, maize, rice, and sweet potato are currently underway and at different stages of development.

The biological mechanism for biofortified crops improving nutritional status is simple bicfortified crops are more nutrient-dense than non-bedfortified ancties.