Indian agriculture, optimised for decades around a single metric — yield — is approaching a shift that could redefine how the country measures food output, according to Prateek Rastogi, Founder & CEO of Better Nutrition, writing in The Hindu Business Line. India now has enough calories, Rastogi argued, yet remains one of the world's most nutrient-deficient countries, with millions of people affected by anaemia, iron, and zinc deficiency despite eating three meals a day. What looks like a public health problem, he said, is also an agricultural one.
From calorie security to nutrition security
Rastogi wrote that crop breeding has largely focused on producing more grain, improving disease resistance, and increasing farm productivity. At the same time, intensive farming, repeated cultivation, and imbalanced fertiliser use have steadily reduced soil health and micronutrient availability. The result, he said, is that India is producing more food, but not necessarily more nutrition.
Fortification versus biofortification
The food industry has already tried to bridge this gap through fortification. Supermarket shelves, Rastogi said, are filled with products that promise added protein, iron, vitamins, or minerals. Fortification has an important role, but it is still nutrition added after the food has already been grown. The bigger opportunity, he argued, lies much earlier — in the seed.
Biofortification improves the nutritional profile of crops while they are growing. Through conventional plant breeding, scientists develop crop varieties that naturally absorb and accumulate higher levels of essential micronutrients from the soil. There is no genetic modification involved, and no nutrients are added during processing; the crop itself is naturally richer in nutrition.
| Attribute | Fortification | Biofortification |
|---|---|---|
| When nutrition is added | After the food is grown | While the crop is growing |
| Method | Factory processing | Conventional plant breeding |
| Genetic modification | Not specified in the article | None involved |
| Source of nutrients | Added externally | Naturally absorbed from soil |
ICAR's 150-plus released varieties
India has already laid the groundwork for this shift, Rastogi said. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the country's premier agricultural research body, has released more than 150 biofortified varieties across six crops:
- Wheat
- Rice
- Pearl millet
- Sorghum
- Maize
- Mustard
Farmers across Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar are already cultivating these varieties.
Biofortified wheat: the same staple, roughly double the micronutrients
Rastogi said biofortified wheat doesn't look different, cooks the same, and tastes the same — but it naturally contains roughly twice the iron and zinc compared to conventional wheat. The nutrition, he stressed, comes from the crop itself, not from a factory.
A rare win-win for the supply chain
Almost every brand today claims to be healthy, Rastogi observed, from protein-rich biscuits and fortified breakfast cereals to vitamin-enriched beverages and mineral-added snacks. When everyone makes similar claims, consumers will begin asking where that nutrition comes from. Brands that can honestly say their nutrition begins on the farm — and not the factory — will have a meaningful advantage, he said.
Biofortification also creates a rare win-win. Farmers grow higher-value crops developed through years of agricultural research. Consumers receive everyday staples with naturally higher nutritional value. And the country moves one step closer to addressing hidden hunger without asking people to change what they eat.
The next phase of Indian agriculture should help India nourish itself. — Prateek Rastogi, Founder & CEO, Better Nutrition
Rastogi concluded that the future of agriculture cannot be judged by yield alone; it must also be measured by the quality of nutrition it delivers. The Green Revolution helped India feed itself, he said. Biofortified crops offer an opportunity to move from calorie security to nutrition security — a shift he described as one of the most important agricultural transitions the country can make.
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