India ranks at 102 among 117 economies as per the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019. The socio-economic burden of malnutrition may get a lot heavier if we do not pay enough attention to this issue.
The first quarter of 2020 has ended, and we still are busy fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. But that does not mean we can afford to stop working towards the ambitious POSHAN Abhiyaan goal of a malnutrition free India by 2022.
One of the main factors which impacts nutrition is the lack of biodiversity in agriculture, which is blamed for homogeneous diets and limited access to food, leading to relentless malnutrition
and hunger. We must therefore step up efforts to make agriculture more environmentally sustainable , and adapt various agricultural technologies which can result in positive, nutritional outcomes.However, this is not possible without adequate, appropriate resources to create more synergies in food technology, agriculture, biotechnology. This unification, particularly, in fostering Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) for improving the status of food security and nutrition, could improve the current situation. Despite the concerns of various environmental bodies, GMOs using genetic engineering not only contribute to the food and nutrition benefits, but also boost agricultural production besides reducing a post-harvest loss. Crop breeding is one of the most direct methods of enhancing nutrition through enhanced agricultural processes. Synchronized efforts must also should be made to promote conservation practices such as crop diversification, zero soil tillage and drip or sprinkler irrigation, which could prove immensely beneficial. In fact, growing more crops that rely less on nitrogen actually helps quick acclimatization, and thus helps resolve both malnutrition as well as hunger.