Abstract

Author:
Raksha Pokhrel

Doi: 10.26480/jwbm.02.2025.29.33

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Micronutrient deficiency is a condition in which body lacks essential vitamins and minerals for proper growth and development. These nutrients are required by our body in small quantities. Micronutrient deficiency is commonly known as “hidden hunger” because it lacks visible sign at the early stages but can lead to poor health over time. In developing countries, micronutrient deficiency is more common. These micronutrients include vitamins (A, B, C, D, E, K), minerals (Iron, Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Zinc, Selenium and so on). The two-year-long COVID-19 pandemic refocused attention on micronutrition, with food fortification and micronutrient supplementation playing a prominent role in public health measures. Agronomic biofortification, which involves using fertilizers and other inputs to enrich crops with mineral micronutrients, is one of the solutions that has gained popularity because of its fast results and importance in the face of challenges like pandemics and climate change. Biofortification by agronomic, genetic, and transgenic approaches provides a sustainable solution to micronutrient deficiencies. Thus, the goal of biofortification is to increase the amounts of micronutrients in crops in order to improve their nutritional quality.