Biofortified Crops to Combat Hidden Hunger

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March 2018), Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Nutrition Mission and Pan India Expansion of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, covering all the 640 districts of the country. The National Nutrition Mission is timely in the context of widespread malnutrition prevailing in India. It is therefore important to accelerate our efforts in achieving a malnutrition-free India. This requires concurrent attention to three major types of hunger, viz. calorie deprivation, protein hunger and hidden hunger caused by the deficiency of micronutrients. It is equally important that agriculture, nutrition and health come together in a synergetic manner.