Biofortified Maize for Improved Human Nutrition

Published on 9 April 2010

Research Areas

Crops

Countries

Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Zambia

Timeline

Start Date: 1 January 2005 | End Date: 31 December 2012

Overview

Maize has become the staple food for more than 1 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Maize is high in carbohydrates but lacks essential micronutrients such as vitamin A.

Vitamin A is an essential nutrient lacking in the diets of poor malnourished populations. Vitamin A deficiency retards growth, increases risk of disease, and can cause reproductive disorders.  Maize exhibits tremendous genetic diversity, and there is naturally occurring germplasm with high levels of provitamin A. Using these varieties to breed high-provitamin A will greatly improve vitamin A status of millions of poor consumers, especially in Africa.

General Objective of  the project:

Develop improved maize germplasm (OPVs and hybrids) with increased levels of provitamin A.

Project Outputs:
Output 1: Experimental maize hybrids and open-pollinated varieties with enhanced concentration of provitamin A, suitable for Zambian and similar mid-altitude, subtropical environments.
Output 2: Source germplasm with enhanced levels of provitamin A and with favorable alleles for use by maize researchers in breeding and developing biofortified maize cultivars.
Output 3: Validated technologies, including phenotyping and marker-assisted selection methods, to facilitate breeding provitamin A biofortified maize.
Output 4: Information about breeding biofortified maize

Research Partners

• IARC
• Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
• International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
• NARI - National Agricultural Research Institute
• Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)
• NGO - international or developed-country based non-governmental institution
• EMBRAPA-Brazil
• University
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Zambia

Tags

HarvestPlus, Maize, Nutrition