Agronomic biofortification of forage crops with zinc and copper for enhancing nutritive potential: a systematic review.

Many developing countries are facing a silent increase in deficiency of micronutrients in forage crops that results in decreased levels of essential nutrients in animals. Micronutrients are essential not only for basic metabolic processes of forage crops but also for sustaining animal health. Forage productivity and quality are severely affected by soil micronutrients deficiencies, especially zinc and copper. This review summarizes the literature highlighting the significance of different methodologies used to increase the biomass and quality of forage so as to enhance the micronutrient content of the forage crops through biofortification. Biofortification is a promising and sustainable agriculture-based strategy to reduce micronutrient deficiency in crops. The experiments and trials conducted at different locations of the world showed that copper and zinc concentrations in animal fodders can be enhanced through the process of foliar application. Additionally, agronomic biofortification showed more promising results, and thus is an outstanding, fast, and cost-effective technique for the immediate enrichment of forage in order to overcome malnutrition in animals. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Singh Dhaliwal S ，Sharma V ，Kumar Shukla A ，Singh Shivay Y ，Hossain A ，Verma V ，Kaur Gill M ，Singh J ，Singh Bhatti S ，Verma G ，Singh J ，Singh P ... -  《-》

Biofortification-A Frontier Novel Approach to Enrich Micronutrients in Field Crops to Encounter the Nutritional Security.

Dhaliwal SS ，Sharma V ，Shukla AK ，Verma V ，Kaur M ，Shivay YS ，Nisar S ，Gaber A ，Brestic M ，Barek V ，Skalicky M ，Ondrisik P ，Hossain A ... -  《MOLECULES》

Reducing Mineral and Vitamin Deficiencies through Biofortification: Progress Under HarvestPlus.

Fundamentally, the prevalence of mineral and vitamin deficiencies is high in developing countries due to the fact that agricultural systems do not produce sufficient foods rich in minerals and vitamins. Biofortification involves breeding staple food crops to increase their micronutrient content, targeting staple foods widely consumed by low-income families globally. In so doing, biofortification contributes to solving the underlying problem of mineral and vitamin deficiencies by increasing the amount of iron, zinc, and provitamin A produced by food systems. When HarvestPlus first started in 2003, there was much doubt among a range of stakeholders, that biofortification would work. First, we had to prove to the plant science community that higher target levels iron, zinc, and provitamin A could be bred into high-yielding, profitable varieties. Presently, over 150 varieties of 12 biofortified crops have passed the agronomic tests of varietal release committees in 30 developing countries. In 3-5 years, biofortified varieties will be available to farmers and consumers in an additional 25 countries. The nutrition community initially questioned the efficacy of biofortified crops - would the levels of retained nutrients and absorption be high enough? HarvestPlus has commissioned 15 efficacy trials, all undertaken in developing countries. While 5 of these studies are still in process, there is already sufficient positive published evidence for iron and provitamin A. Can adoption of biofortified crops by farmers be scaled up, and a public health impact demonstrated? HarvestPlus estimates that 20 million farmers and consumers presently grow and consume biofortified crops in 8 target countries. The final and major challenge is to mainstream biofortification into the fabric of "business-as-usual" of a range of organizations - public and private agricultural research, institutions that focus on bringing improved agricultural technologies to farmers including multi-lateral lending institutions, private companies, non-governmental organizations, and the policies and programs of national governments, regional organizations, and UN agencies.

Bouis H 《-》

Zinc Biofortification in Food Crops Could Alleviate the Zinc Malnutrition in Human Health.

Praharaj S ，Skalicky M ，Maitra S ，Bhadra P ，Shankar T ，Brestic M ，Hejnak V ，Vachova P ，Hossain A ... -  《MOLECULES》

Biofortification: A long-term solution to improve global health- a review.

Monika G ，Melanie Kim SR ，Kumar PS ，Gayathri KV ，Rangasamy G ，Saravanan A ... -  《-》