Biofortified staples may hold the key to India’s rural malnutrition (Reuters)

Reuters published an opinion piece by IFPRI Research Analyst Smriti Verma and Research Fellow Anjani Kumar in which the authors argued that biofortified staple crops may be key to ending rural malnutrition in India. Verma and Kumar described the severity of rural malnutrition and nutritional insecurity, including micronutrient deficiency resulting from low fruit, vegetable and animal product consumption compared with widespread reliance on rice and wheat. The authors pointed to an ongoing IFPRI study on the potential for introducing biofortified rice and wheat through the public distribution system (PDS) as part of the solution, ultimately suggesting mechanisms to incentivize farmers to uptake these varieties as part of a larger push to institutionalize production, procurement and distribution of biofortified staples.