Molecular Breeding Approaches for Biofortification of Cereal Crops

Over three billion population in this world is suffering from micronutrient malnutrition; among them women and children are more sufferers, mainly in developing countries. The effective and sustainable way to enhance the food value is by breeding cereal crops having a good amount of micronutrient content. Several reports of quantitative trait locus (QTL)/loci for iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content in rice, wheat, and millets; provitamin A, vitamin E, and quality protein in maize; starch content in rye; and malting quality in barley have been discussed in detail. A detailed discussion was also made on molecular approaches for biofortification, viz., dissection of genome-wide genomic regions linked with biofortification traits, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and genomic selection. This chapter emphasizes a different breeding approach to develop micronutrient-rich cereal cultivars to overcome malnutrition and ultimately eradicate hidden hunger.