{"id":58087,"date":"2025-08-04T13:36:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T08:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=58087"},"modified":"2025-08-04T16:52:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T11:22:16","slug":"bio-fortified-potatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/bio-fortified-potatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Bio-Fortified Potatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Bio-Fortified Potatoes Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>India is taking a significant step in tackling micronutrient deficiencies and improving agricultural sustainability by introducing bio-fortified potatoes with enhanced iron content, developed by the International Potato Center (CIP) based in Peru.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are Bio-Fortified Potatoes?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bio-fortified potatoes<\/strong> are a new variety enriched with <strong>higher iron content<\/strong> aimed at addressing iron deficiency and hidden hunger. These are developed using <strong>conventional breeding and biotechnology<\/strong> without altering taste or yield.<\/li>\n<li>The initiative is led by the <strong>International Potato Centre (CIP)<\/strong>, based in The CIP is a <strong>global research leader in tuber crops<\/strong> and is working actively to promote <strong>nutritionally improved potatoes<\/strong> in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>About Bio-Fortified Sweet Potatoes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bio-fortified <strong>sweet potatoes enriched with Vitamin A<\/strong> are already available in <strong>Karnataka, Assam, West Bengal, and Odisha<\/strong>. Plans are underway to expand their access to more farmers across India.<\/li>\n<li>The current focus is on <strong>iron-fortified potato varieties<\/strong>, for which <strong>germplasm has been shared<\/strong> with <strong>ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Shimla<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>A variety has already been released in <strong>Peru<\/strong> and is currently under <strong>evaluation and adaptation<\/strong> for Indian agro-climatic conditions.<\/li>\n<li>CIP is establishing a South Asia regional centre in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, acknowledging the <strong>Indo-Gangetic plains<\/strong> as the <strong>world\u2019s largest potato-producing region<\/strong>. This centre will boost regional R&amp;D and seed access.<\/li>\n<li>ICAR has released <strong>biofortified seed varieties<\/strong> across <strong>61 crops<\/strong>, including <strong>34 field crops<\/strong> (cereals, pulses, millets, oilseeds) and <strong>27 horticultural crops<\/strong> (tubers, vegetables, medicinal plants).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Examples of Biofortified Crops<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CR Dhan 416<\/strong>: Salinity-resistant rice variety with multiple pest resistances.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Durum Wheat<\/strong>: Adapted to irrigated areas, rich in <strong>zinc (41.1 ppm)<\/strong> and <strong>iron (38.5 ppm)<\/strong>, and contains <strong>12% protein<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>About Biofortification<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Biofortification<\/strong> is the process of <strong>enhancing the nutrient content<\/strong> of crops using <strong>conventional breeding<\/strong>, <strong>agronomic techniques<\/strong>, or <strong>modern biotechnology<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It helps increase <strong>vitamin and mineral levels<\/strong> in staple crops.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/bio-fortified-potatoes-to-hit-indian-market-soon\/article69890666.ece#:~:text=CIP&#039;s%20regional%20centre%20in%20Agra,in%20the%20region%3A%20Simon%20Heck&amp;text=Bio%2Dfortified%20potatoes%2C%20with%20added,an%20interview%20to%20The%20Hindu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bio-fortified potatoes are a new variety enriched with higher iron content aimed at addressing iron deficiency and hidden hunger. These are developed using conventional breeding and biotechnology without altering taste or yield. Read more about Bio-Fortified Potatoes, Definition, Importance, Latest News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":58139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2006,21,22,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-58087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-bio-fortified-potatoes","9":"tag-prelims-pointers","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}