Agronomic Biofortification in Millets-key to Nutritional Security: A Review

Malnutrition and undernourishment are the major health problems in India with 16 per cent of the population are undernourished and 53 per cent of the women being anaemic. The millet grains called ‘nutricereals’ are best alternative to address the nutritional deficiencies such as iron, protein, calcium and magnesium prevalent among population. Millets are drought tolerant, photo-insensitive and highly climate resilient crops. Henceforth, Millets are increasingly becoming an alternative source of food, both worldwide and in India. While there has been recent attention on using micronutrient supplements and fortifying foods industrially to assist vulnerable populations, the enduring and environmentally sound effects can truly be realized through fortifying crops with micronutrients during their production stage. Biofortification involves enhancing the levels vital nutrients in the edible portions of crop plants by either modifying agricultural practices or selecting plants improved genetic traits. Agronomic biofortification is an easiest short-term approach for biofortification. It involves the use of fertilizers enriched with micronutrients, which is a straightforward method to improve the nutritional quality of crops. Consuming such fortified crops can lead to improvements in human nutritional status. India is the leading millet producer with 80 per cent of Asia's share making 20 per cent of the global production. Millets, which were long thought of as poor man's diet, are now quickly becoming included in the food baskets of the wealthy as well as a natural remedy for health. The micronutrient content in millets can be explored by various agronomic biofortification methods. These include soil application of micronutrient enriched fertilizers for plant uptake, foliar application of fertilizer, seed primingand soilless cultivation, which are the primary techniques.