Comparative study of biofortified and non-biofortified wheat in Uttar Pradesh, India : Combating nutritional security through biofortification

Abstract

Biofortification is the process of enriching the staple food crops with nutrients and a way towards more nourishing future. India ranks number one in terms of low birth weight infants at an estimated 7.4 million undernourished kids. Mild to moderate zinc deficiency (ZnD) is common in India because the commonly consumed staple foods have low zinc contents. The prevalence of zinc deficiency is reported 48.1 per cent among under five years children in Uttar Pradesh. The present study is carried out to assess the health benefits of biofortified wheat in Uttar Pradesh by using Disability-adjusted Life Years (DALYs) method. The current burden of ZnD in Uttar Pradesh is estimated to be 0.91 million DALYs lost, out of which 888517 DALYs from mortality and 24538 DALYs due to morbidity. The comparative economics between biofortified and non-biofortified wheat variety revealed that there is no significant difference in the cost of cultivation and other characteristics like cooking quality, taste, appearance of the varieties. The zinc biofortification was found to be very cost-effective as the cost of saving one DALYs ranges from Rs. 79 to Rs. 177. Therefore, the zinc biofortification is a promising tool to achieve the goal of nutritional security in Uttar Pradesh as well as India.