SPEAKER: Jie Li

Tenure-track Associate Professor, Department of Plant Science, SAB

TIME ：12:40-14:00 May 21st, 2025 (Wed)

VENUE：Room 104, Building B, SAB

ORGANIZER：Office of Discipline and Science & Technology, SAB;

                         Young Teachers Association, SAB

TITLE：Biofortified crops; a sustainable route to nutrition sufficiency?

ABSTRACT：

Biofortification was first proposed in the early 1990s as a low-cost, sustainable strategy to enhance the mineral and vitamin content of staple food crops, addressing micronutrient deficiencies. Since then, its application scope has expanded beyond staple crops and solutions tailored for low- and middle-income economies. This seminar will examine biofortification’s achievements relative to its original objectives and identify key constraints limiting its efficacy in improving human micronutrient status. Through case studies of diverse biofortification approaches—with a focus on vitamin D biofortification—we highlight its potential to address evolving nutritional demands across different contexts.

Finally, the talk explores how biofortification technologies, integrated with advanced biotechnologies like gene editing, can be embedded into global food systems. Multidisciplinary collaboration will be critical to synergistically combat hidden hunger, improve nutritional outcomes, and achieve sustainable nutrition-sensitive agriculture.