People in the world are suffering from "Hidden Hunger".Biofortification is one sustainable option in achieving "Zeo Hunger".

1. Biofortification:
Indian and Global Scenario for
Crop Improvement
AKSHITA AWASTHI
A-2018-30-038
M.Sc 2nd year
c
CREDIT SEMINAR

2. 2
CONTENTS
1 Malnutrition Problem
2 Micronutrients are so important, Why ?
3 What is Biofortification ?
4 What is Biofortified crop ?
5 Advantages
6 Global and Indian Impact of Biofortification
7 Target Countries and crops released
8 Methods of Biofortification
9 Case Studies
10 Conclusions
11 Future challenges

3. 3
 815 million people of the 7.6 billion people in the world ( FAO) are
malnutritioned
 Almost all the hungry people live in lower-middle-income
countries
 More than two billion people in the world suffer micronutrient
deficiency
 150.8 million children are stunted
 In addition, 50.5 and 38.3 million children are wasted and
overweight respectively
 2.01 billion adults are overweight and obese
 India has one- third of world’s stunted children
 According to UNICEF, one in every three malnourished children in
the world lives in India
FAO
Global Nurition Report -
2018

4. Malnutrition Problem in World
Malnutrition Problem in World
4
(WHO -2019)

6. 6
Malnutrition Problem In India
 194.4 million people are undernourished in India
 By this measure 14.5% of the population is undernourished in India
 Also, 51.4% of women in reproductive age between 15 to 49 years are anaemic
 37.9% of the children aged under five in India are stunted (too short for their age)
 20.8% suffer from wasting, meaning their weight is too low for their height
 Malnourished children have a higher risk of death from common childhood illnesses such
as diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria
 The Global Hunger Index 2018 ranks India at 103 out of 119 countries on the basis
of three leading indicators -- prevalence of wasting and stunting in children under years,under
5 child mortality rate, and the proportion of undernourished in the population
FAO- The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 Report

7. 7SOURCE-IFPRI GLOBAL HUNGER
INDEX

8. 8
Anaemia

9. Micronutrients which are major cause of
malnutrition includes:
• Vitamin A: deficiency can cause night
blindness and reduces the body's
resistance to disease.
• Iron: deficiency is a principal cause of
anaemia. Two billion people—over 30
percent of the world’s population—are
anaemic, mainly due to iron deficiency.
• Zinc: deficiency weakens their immune
system and leaves them vulnerable to
conditions such as diarrhea, pneumonia
and malaria.9

10. Weapons To Fight Micronutrient Deficiencies
10
Source -WHO

11. BIOFORTIFICATION
11
 Greek word “bios” means “life” and Latin word “fortificare” means “make strong”
Term coined by Steve Beebe (2001) at meeting convened by CIAT
Biofortification is a method of breeding crops to increase their nutritional value
Biofortification can be defined as a process to increase the bioavailability and the concentration of nutrients in
crops through both conventional plant breeding (White and Broadley, 2005) and recombinant DNA technology
(genetic engineering) (Zimmermann and Hurrell, 2002).
Biofortification refers to increasing genetically the bio-available mineral content of food crops
(Brinch-Pederson et al. 2007)

12. 12
Nutritional supplements are one solution, but these are expensive. It
would cost ‘US$5.9 billion (Rs 41,764 lakh crore) a year to deliver 14
essential nutrition interventions at full coverage across India’, says this
2016 study in the Maternal Child &Nutrition Journal.
Why can't people get required nutrients from food itself, asked
American economist Howarth 'Howdy' Bouis in the 1990s. Bouis
came up with the idea of breeding seed varieties naturally high in
micronutrients with high-yielding seed varieties, a concept later
termed 'biofortification'.
Bouis was awarded the World Food Prize in 2016 for his
work in reducing hidden hunger.
HOWARTH BOUIS

13. How Biofortified Crops Improve Food
and Nutrition Security
Compared with conventional (non-biofortified crops),
biofortified crops have
Increase foods available in
homes
 Better agronomic characteristics
• Greater: yields, tolerance to stresses
 Higher nutritional concentration
• More: iron, zinc, beta-carotene and/or
tryptophan and lysine
Increase the intake of these
nutrients
Improve nutrition
security
Improve food security
13

14. Contd..
•Biofortification differs from
ordinary fortification
because;
• It focuses on making plants
more nutritious as the plants
are growing, rather than
having nutrients added to the
foods when they are being
processed.

15. Bio-fortification Differs Ordinary Fortification
Dietry
supplements
More
nutrients
consumed
Varied, plant-
based diet
15

16. Commercially available Fortified Products
16

17. 17
HARVEST PLUS

18. 18

19. 19

20. 20
BIOFORTIFIED CROPS

21. For Biofortification to be successful;
• First, the breeding must be successful-high nutrient density must be
combined with high yields and high profitability
• Second, efficacy must be demonstrated-the micronutrient status of human
subjects must be shown to improve when consuming the biofortification
cultivars as normally eaten
• Third, the biofortified crops must be adopted by the farmers and consumed by
those suffering from micronutrient malnutrition in significant numbers
21

22. 22

23. Difference between different biofortification
methods:
Mineral
fertilization
Conventional
breeding
Transgenic approaches
Advantages: Simple, inexpensive and
rapid method
Uses intrinsic properties
of a crop
Rapid unconstrained by gene pool,
targeted expression, applicable directly
to elite cultivars
Disadvantages: Only works with
minerals and not
possible to target edible
organ.
Depends on existing gene
pool, takes long time,
traits might need to be
introgressed from wild
relatives.
Political and socio-economic issues
relevant to transgenic plants
23

24. Agronomic biofortification:
• Agronomic biofortification can provide temporary micronutrient increases
through fertilizers. Foliar application of zinc fertilizer, for example, can
increase grain zinc concentration by up to 20 ppm in wheat grain in India
(Amy Saltzman, 2013).
24

25. Conventional biofortification:
• Biofortification can be
achieved through
conventional plant breeding,
where parent lines with high
vitamin or mineral levels
are crossed over several
generations to produce
plants that have the desired
nutrient and agronomic
traits.25

26. Transgenic biofortification:
• Transgenic approaches are advantageous when the nutrient
does not naturally exist in a crop (for example, provitamin A
in rice), or when sufficient amounts of bioavailable
micronutrients cannot be effectively bred into the crop.
26

27. 27
HARVEST PLUS

28. HARVEST PLUS
• Harvest Plus is the CGIAR’s Biofortification Challenge program
• Harvest Plus was formally launced in the year 2003
• It is directed at using plant breeding as an intervention strategy to address micronutrient
malnutrition by producing staple food crops with enhanced levels of bioavailable essential
minerals and vitamins
• The Harvest Plus program has set needed levels for Fe, Zn, and provitamin A carotenoids
in target crops after addressing these issues
28

29. Biofortified Staple Food Crops :Who is
Growing What ?
29
HARVEST PLUS

30. Information and assumptions used to set target levels for micronutrient content of
biofortified staple food crops.
NUTRIENT CRITERIA RICE WHEAT MAIZE
IRON Micronutrient retention after processing%:
Bioavailibility %:
Final target content (µg/g):
90
10
13
90
5
52
90
5
52
ZINC Micronutrient retention after processing%:
Bioavailibility %:
Final target content (µg/g):
90
25
28
90
25
33
90
25
33
PROVITAMIN-A Micronutrient retention after processing%:
Bioavailibility %:
Final target content (µg/g):
50
12
15
50
12
15
50
12
15
( Bouis and Welch, 2010)
30

31. Biofortification has been
done for ;
 Increased Vitamin A
 Iron
 Zinc
RICE:
31

32. Golden rice 1
• Development of golden rice is credited to Peter Beyer and Ingo Potrykus
• Golden rice was designed to produce beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, in
the edible part of rice, the endosperm
• Golden rice was created by transforming rice with only two beta-carotene
biosynthesis genes:
• psy (phytoene synthase) from daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)
• crtI (carotene desaturase) from the soil bacterium (Erwinia uredovora)
32

33. IPP (Isopentenyl pyrophosphate)
Geranylgeranyl diphosphate
Phytoene
Lycopene
 -carotene
(vitamin A precursor)
Phytoene synthase
Phytoene desaturase
Lycopene-beta-cyclase
ξ-carotene desaturase
Daffodil gene
Single bacterial gene;
performs both functions
Daffodil gene
Carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in golden rice:
Golden
Rice
33

34. Grain of rice lack of Vit. A
Grain of rice represent high Vit. A,
developed through genetic
engineering
34

35. Golden rice 2
• In 2005, a new variety called Golden Rice 2, which produces up to 23 times more
beta-carotene than the original golden rice was produced by Syngenta
• The phytoene synthase gene from maize with crt1 from the original golden rice were
combined.
• Golden rice 2 produces 23 times more carotenoids than golden rice (up to 37 µg/g),
and preferentially accumulates beta-carotene (up to 31 µg/g of the 37 µg/g of
carotenoids)
35

36. 36

37. Paine et al., 2005
37
psy

38. Iron and Zinc biofortification:
• Fe is abundant in mineral soils and the major problem with its acquisition is
solubility, thus application of soil Fe as fertilizer is not an effective strategy
for increasing seed Fe.
• It is believed that only endosperm is left over after milling in rice. Hence
biofortification would be effective only when the metal ion concentration is
increased in the endosperm
38

39. BIOFORTIFICATION THROUGH INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF
METAL CHELATORS :
• Graminaceous plants, for acquiring micronutrients from soil and transporting them
from roots to shoots and grains secrete small molecules called mugineic acid family
phytosiderophores (MAs).
• MAs have the potential to solubilize Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn. So, increasing these
mugineic compounds would increase iron and zinc concentration in rice (Khurram
Bashir et al. 2013).
39

40. Exploiting metal transporters for Bio-fortification:
• Protein 1 (OsIRT1; Fe and Cd), OsIRT2 (Fe and Cd) are the iron regulated
transporters and are responsible for transporting different metals.
• The rice line that over expresses more OsIRT1 accumulated more iron and zinc in
the seeds.
• Also inclusion of tissue specific promoter such as OsSUT 1 may increase zinc
concentration in rice grains.
40

41. • Its found that Ferretin, a globular protein has
ability to store and keep iron in soluble and non
toxic forms. In plants ferretin may be localised to
plastids. So, over expression of ferretin was first
attempt to increase iron on rice grains.
• Pusa Basmati (Pusa sugandh) over expresses rice
ferretin under control of endosperm specific
promoter (glutelin A2).
• The expression of ferretin in these plants was 7.8
times more than the wild types and these plants
accumulated iron and zinc at level 2.1 and 1.4 fold
respectively as compared to wild types.
41
Iron and Zinc enriched endosperm of
Rice

42. Zinc fortification:
• Zinc content in rice can be increased by fertilization
• Zinc fertilization in soil had little effect on rice grain yield with the exception of
increases of up to 10 % . As an average, Zn application increased grain yield by
about 5 %
• On average, Zn concentration in rice was increased by 25 % and 32 % by foliar and
foliar + soil Zn applications, respectively, and only 2.4 % by soil Zn application
42

43. Contd…
• BRRI dhan 62, the world’s first zinc-rich rice variety has been released in Bangladesh
(2013)
• BRRI dhan 62 has 20 to 22 parts per million (ppm) of zinc while the average zinc content
of rice is 14 to 16 ppm. The variety was developed using conventional breeding methods
by scientists at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI).
43

44. Varieties from H.P
• Palam lal dhan 1 (HPR-2720) released in 2013 from State Variety
Released Committee.
Grain is red in color and aleurone layer is rich in micronutrients (Fe,Zn
and Mn).
Has premium price in market.
• Him Palam Lal Dhan 1(HPR-2795) is another pureline selection from
Sukara (Local landrace) and has high iron and zinc content
• Other varieties : Chohatu(Shimla), karad and Sukra red (Chamba)
Him Palam Lal Dhan 1
44

45. Wheat:
Wheat:
45

46. Andrew Green, 2013
46

47. Zn biofortification:
• The Zn-rich parts of wheat grains are removed during milling, thus resulting in a
marked reduction in flour Zn concentrations
• It is found that the application of Zn as ZnSO4 is most effective in increasing grain
Zn concentration
• Soil application is generally considered good however incase of Zn, foliar spray
and soil application of Zn fertilizers is considered to be best
47

48. Contd…
• Compared with bread wheat, durum wheat tends to accumulate more Zn and Fe
• Triticum dicoccoides has a varying conc of 14–190 mg/kg under greenhouse
conditions for Zn and 15–109 mg/kg for Fe
• Screening different series of T. dicoccoides lines revealed that the chromosome 6A,
6B, and 5B of dicoccoides resulted in greater increase in Zn and Fe concentration
(Cakmak et al. 2004).
• The results indicate that Triticum turgidum L. var. dicoccoides (wild emmer) is an
important genetic resource for increasing concentration and content of Zn and Fe in
modern cultivated wheat
48

49. Zn dithizone (DTZ) method described by Ozturk et al (2006). DTZ forms a red colored complex with
Zn; red color intensity is associated with high Zn concentration. END, endosperm; EMB, embryo; ALE,
aleurone.
49

50. S.No. Species Number of Genome Iron mg/kg Zinc mg/kg
accessions Range Mean Range Mean
1 T. aestivum 13 ABD 21.26- 30.59 27.69 14.88 - 19.33 22.15
2 T. durum 2 AB 21.91 - 25.60 23.58 13.68- 19.60 18.79
3 T. boeoticum 19 Am 23.88 - 40.50 30.91 22.12 - 39.06 29.27
4 T. dicoccoides 17 AB 27.67 - 42.67 32.98 22.50 - 66.51 35.33
5 T.arraraticum 6 AG 23.10 - 59.06 29.85 19.27 - 30.54 23.52
6 Ae longissima 5 Sl 59.12 - 81.59 73.24** 24.99 - 50.52 41.66
7 Ae. kotschyi 14 US 22.89 - 90.96 67.46** 22.29 - 58.61 49.27
8 Ae. peregrina 10 US 34.37 - 82.32 52.85** 33.13 - 49.49 39.54
9 Ae. cylindrica 3 CD 52.21- 93.27 66.76** 32.38 - 52.18 38.51
10 Ae. ventricosa 3 DN 55.41 - 93.52 65.75** 24.01 - 39.08 33.81
11 Ae. ovata 3 UM 52.25 - 81.97 69.95** 31.93- 40.81 37.7
50

51. Range Mean
Fe 25-56 mg/kg 37 mg/kg
Zn 25-65 mg/kg 35 mg/kg
Preliminary screening of several hundred wheat accessions showed
four to five fold variability for grain Fe and Zn concentrations. The
range of values for Fe concentration in grain among hexaploid wheat,
Triticum dicoccon and landraces
51

52. Maize
52

53. Quality Protein Maize
• Quality protein in maize is controlled by ‘opaque-2’and its associated modifiers
• It was reported that the lysine content in o2 was 3.3 to 4.0 g per 100 g of
endosperm protein, which was more than twice that of normal maize endosperm
(1.3 g lysine/100 g endosperm protein)
• However, due to soft endosperm that results in damaged kernels, an increased
susceptibility to pests and fungal diseases, inferior food processing and generally
reduced yields, o2 was not grown
• To make the seeds hard, endosperm modifiers were used
53

54. 54

55. 55
CURRENT SCIENCE 2009

56. • QPM variety Vivek QPM 9 has been developed by crossing two o2 recipient varieties
CML 212 and CML 145 and has about 41% of increased tryptophan content and 30%
higher lysine.
Current Science, 2009
56

57. 57
RESULTS:
•Genetic diversity among 48 maize genotypes was determined using 11
morphological traits, 4 biochemical traits and 29 SSR primers.
•Protein content of LM02-08 was the highest among all the genotypes.
• CML193 was found superior for iron and zinc content.
•Carotenoid content of LM-19-07 was higher as compared to checks

58. 58
In this study ,With the hope of producing a superior maize cultivar, the pattern of
relationship among 40 maize inbred lines (QPM and non-QPM) adapted to hills was
examined using molecular, biochemical and morphological characteristics. Among the non-
QPM set, early maturing lines BAJIM-08-26 and KI-30 were found superior for grain yield,
and among QPM set, CML189 line was found superior for high tryptophan content. This
information may be used in selecting genetically divergent lines for ongoing breeding
programs for quality enhancement. The selected QPM line(s) could be used as donor and the
well-adapted agronomically superior lines as recurrent parent for conversion of non-QPM to
QPM lines.

59. Development of vitamin A-rich cereals can help in alleviating the
widespread problem of vitamin A deficiency.
A favourable allele of the b-carotene hydroxylase (crtRB1) gene was introgressed in the
seven elite inbred parents, which were low (1.4 mg/g) in kernel b-carotene.
Concentration of b-carotene among the crtRB1-introgressed inbreds varied from 8.6 to 17.5
mg/g - a maximum increase up to 12.6-fold over recurrent parent.
The reconstituted hybrids developed from improved parental inbreds also showed
enhanced kernel b-carotene as high as 21.7 mg/g, compared to 2.6 mg/g in the original hybrid.
59

60. 60

61. Ranges of Fe and Zn concentrations were 11.28-60.11 mg/kg and 15.14-52.95 mg/kg, respectively.
Based on the performance 4 highly promising inbreds and 3 landrace accessions were identified as highly
promising for Fe concentration, including a HarvestPlus line, HP2 (42.21 mg/kg).
Similarly, for Zn concentration, three inbreds and one landrace were identified as highly promising including
V340 (43.33 mg/kg).
Study identified HP2 and BAJIM 06-17 for Fe concentration and IML467 for Zn concentration as the most
stable genotypes across the environments.
61

62. Pearl Millet
India, which has the largest pearl millet area (>9 mh) in the world.
Pearl Millet, as a species, has higher levels of Fe and Zn densities than other
major cereal crops.
In this study 122 hybrids (21 hybrids from 9 public sector research
organizations, including ICRISAT; and 101 hybrids from 33 seed companies)
was used.
This study showed the existence of about two fold variability for Fe density
(31-61 ppm) and zinc density (32-54 ppm) among 122 commercial and
pipeline hybrids developed in India.
62

63. Objective: To compare the capacity of iron (Fe) biofortified and standard pearl millet
(Pennisetum glaucum L.) to deliver Fe for haemoglobin (Hb)-synthesis.
Methods: Two isolines of PM, a low-Fe-control (“DG-9444”, Low-Fe) and biofortified
(“ICTP-8203 Fe”, High-Fe) in Fe (26 μg and 85 μg-Fe/g, respectively) were used.
Results: Improved Fe-status was observed in the High-Fe group, as suggested
by total-Hb-Fe values(15.5±0.8and 26.7±1.4 mg, Low-Fe and
High-Fe respectively, P<0.05).
63

64. Biofortification Through Breeding High Iron
Pearl Millet
ICTP8203
ICRISAT Bred OPV
(70-74 ppm Fe)
With 10% Higher Yield
Marketed by NIRMAL Seeds
86M86
Pioneer Hybrid (54-63ppm Fe)
64

65. Biofortified Crop Varieties Released In India
CROP BIOFORTIFIED VARIETY
RICE CR Dhan 310 (Protein Rich Variety ) 2016
DRR Dhan 45( Zinc Rich Variety) 2016
WHEAT WB 02 (zinc & iron rich variety) 2017
HPBW 01 (iron & zinc rich variety) 2017
MAIZE Pusa Vivek QPM9 Improved (provitamin-A, lysine & tryptophan rich hybrid) 2017
Pusa HM4 Improved (lysine & tryptophan rich hybrid) 2017
Pusa HM8 Improved (lysine & tryptophan rich hybrid) 2017
Pusa HM9 Improved (lysine & tryptophan rich hybrid) 2017
65
SOURCE – Indian Biofortification Scenarion ICAR

66. Other Biofortified Crops Released in India
Pearl millet
HHB 299 (iron & zinc rich hybrid)
AHB 1200 (iron rich hybrid)
Lentil
Pusa Ageti Masoor (iron rich variety)
Mustard
Pusa Mustard 30 (low erucic acid variety)
Pusa Double Zero Mustard 31 (low erucic acid & low glucosinolate variety)
Cauliflower
Pusa Beta Kesari 1 (β-carotene rich variety)
Sweet Potato
Bhu Sona (β-carotene rich variety)
Bhu Krishna (anthocyanin rich variety)
Pomegranate
Solapur Lal (iron, zinc & vitamin-C rich variety)
66
Indian Biofortification Scenario

67. 67
India’s first biofortified sorghum variety released by ICRISAT in 2018
The improved variety ICSR 14001, released as ‘Parbhani Shakti’, offers a cost-
effective and sustainable solution to address micronutrient deficiency.

68. Advantages of BIOFORTIFICATION:
• First, it capitalizes on the regular daily intake of a consistent and large amount of food
staples by all family members
•Second, after the one-time investment to develop seeds that fortify themselves, recurrent
costs are low
•Third, once in place, the biofortified crop system is highly sustainable
•Fourth, biofortification provides a feasible means of reaching undernourished
populations in relatively remote rural areas

69. 69
NATIONAL NUTRITION STRATEGY

70. 70
WAYS FORWARD..........

71. 71
SOURCE-THE TRIBUNE NOV 18,2019

72. Food is the moral right of all who are
born into this world -- Borlaug
Nutritious food is the moral right of all
who are born into this world
Thank you72