Received: 10th Feb 2019; Accepted: 22nd May 2019

Abstract

Polished rice is a poor source of micronutrients and was reported to be responsible for malnutrition in the developing countries where rice is the major energy source. Biofortification for zinc (Zn) in polished rice is a promising and cost effective approach for the development of Zn-dense rice to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition. Several donors, especially landraces with >50 ppm in brown rice and >35 ppm in polished rice were identified and used in the development of breeding lines with high Zn and yield. The developed lines were evaluated under ICAR – All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project for their high yield and Zn across the locations and across the years and promising lines were identified and released as varieties. Five varieties since 2015 were released through Central Varietal Release Committee for high Zn in polished rice in India.