Nutri-farms for Mitigating Malnutrition in India

Abstract

The “green revolution” in India had helped to alleviate the crisis of food insufficiency by introducing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Now the time has come to address the issues concerning food quality. Millions of people do not find adequate nutritious foods in their diets, especially foods that are affluent in vitamins and minerals. According to the 2011 census, the farm families comprise the majority of India’s population. A high proportion of marginal and landless farm families undergo malnutrition because of too little income and affordability to purchase quality foods. For example, the pulses supplying dietary protein are too expensive for the poor. Here comes the role of nutri-farms. It ensures biofortified food crops that are enriched in critical micronutrients. These foods essentially provide the critical nutrients such as iron and zinc besides supplementing protein and essential vitamins. In the paper, the concept of nutri-farms is discussed in detail so as to mitigate malnutrition in India.