Biofortified Potatoes in India: Kufri Jamunia and Hidden Hunger

1.What is biofortification?

Biofortification means raising the nutrient level of a crop while it grows. Farmers and scientists do this through plant breeding, better farming methods or biotechnology. (Source: WHO)

Food fortification is different. Nutrients are added to food during processing. Iodised salt is the familiar example, because iodine is added to ordinary salt.

A simple way to remember it: fortification adds nutrients after harvest. Biofortification builds them in before harvest.

2.Which nutrients does it target?

HarvestPlus is a global group that promotes nutrient-rich staple crops. Its focus is iron, zinc and vitamin A. (Source: HarvestPlus)

India has other examples too. WB 02 wheat is rich in zinc and iron. Dhanashakti pearl millet is rich in iron. (Source: ICAR)

3.What is Kufri Jamunia?

Kufri Jamunia is a purple-fleshed potato. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and its Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) at Shimla developed it. (Source: PIB)

Its tubers are dark purple and oblong, with shallow eyes. The flesh is purple because it is high in anthocyanin, a plant pigment. (Source: ICAR)

It is a table potato, meaning it is grown for eating. It matures in 90-100 days and yields about 32-35 tonnes per hectare. It suits the northern, central and eastern plains. (Source: PIB)

4.When was it released?

The Prime Minister released it on 11 August 2024. It was one of 109 varieties of 61 crops in that package. Of these, 34 were field crops and 27 were horticultural crops. (Source: PIB)

So Kufri Jamunia is not a 2026 release. The 2026 news is renewed attention to a variety released two years earlier.

5.What do the nutrient numbers say?

PIB’s backgrounder gives these figures per 100 g. The basis, fresh or dry, is not stated. (Source: PIB)

Flesh anthocyanin is 42.05 mg per 100 g. These are crop measurements. They do not show how much the body absorbs.

6.What is hidden hunger?

Hidden hunger means a lack of vitamins and minerals, even when people get enough calories. It is about food quality, not food quantity. (Source: HarvestPlus)

Anaemia is a low level of haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying part of blood. The National Family Health Survey, round 5 (NFHS-5, 2019-21), found these rates.

Children aged 6-59 months: 67.1%. Women aged 15-49: 57.0%. Pregnant women: 52.2%. (Source: National Health Profile)

These are 2019-21 figures, not a count for today.

7.Is anaemia just iron deficiency?

No. Anaemia also comes from other nutrient gaps, infections, chronic disease and inherited blood disorders. (Source: WHO)

So one crop cannot fix it alone. Biofortification works best with varied diets and other nutrition programmes. (Source: WHO) For the wider diet picture, see What Indians Eat: HCES 2023-24, NFHS-6 and the Nutrition Transition.

8.What is the International Potato Center doing?

The International Potato Center (CIP) has bred iron- and zinc-rich potatoes by conventional breeding. (Source: CIP)

Its Peru work is a separate milestone. In 2025 it delivered 50,000 in vitro plants of iron-rich potatoes to Peru’s agricultural institute, INIA. (Source: CGIAR) That is not an Indian release.

9.What is the CIP centre at Agra?

The Union Cabinet approved the CIP South Asia Regional Centre on 25 June 2025. It is at Singna, Agra, Uttar Pradesh. (Source: PIB)

It will work on potato and sweetpotato productivity, nutrition, post-harvest management and value addition. (Source: CIP)

10.How is fortified rice different?

Fortified rice mixes fortified rice kernels (FRK) with ordinary rice. The kernels carry iron, folic acid and vitamin B12. This is processing-based fortification, not biofortification. (Source: PIB)

The Cabinet approved continued supply until December 2028 in October 2024. But on 27 February 2026 the government temporarily discontinued rice fortification under PMGKAY. It cited shelf-life concerns. (Source: PIB)