Biofortification—A Sustainable Agricultural Strategy for Reducing Micronutrient Malnutrition in the Global South

ABSTRACT Minerals and vitamins in food staples eaten widely by the poor may be increased either through conventional plant breeding or through use of transgenic techniques, a process known as biofortification HarvestPlus seeks to develop and distribute cultivars of food staples (rice [ Oryza sativa L.], wheat [ Triticum aestivum L.], maize [ Zea mays L.], cassava [ Manihot esculenta Crantz], pearl millet [ Pennisetum americanum Leeke], beans [ Phaseolus vulgaris L.], sweet potato [ Ipomoea batatas L.]) that are high in Fe, Zn, and provitamin A through an interdisciplinary global alliance of scientific institutions and implementing agencies in developing and developed countries. Biofortified crops offer a…