Current Affairs · · GS3 · Economy

Purple Kufri Jamunia potato pitched against India's hidden hunger

ICAR's Central Potato Research Institute has developed Kufri Jamunia, a purple-fleshed potato reported to contain more vitamin C, iron, zinc and antioxidants than regular potatoes. It is promoted as a tool against hidden hunger. A Hindu explainer cautions that cost, price, market uptake and actual nutrient delivery will decide its impact.

Event date:

REq1
  1. Note1 / 5

    WHY IN NEWS?

    • ICAR–Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI), Shimla, has developed Kufri Jamunia, a purple-skinned, purple-fleshed potato.
    • It was bred conventionally by crossing a high-vitamin-C line with a purple-fleshed line.
    • After trials in 2021–23, it was approved and notified in 2024.
    • It matures in about 90 days.
    • It is being promoted against hidden hunger — lack of vitamins and minerals despite enough calories.
  2. Note2 / 5

    HOW IT COMPARES

    The table gives figures per 100 g as reported by the developers.

    Nutrient (per 100 g)Kufri JamuniaRegular potato
    Vitamin C (mg)42.7523.15
    Iron (mg)3.220.57
    Zinc (mg)2.280.28
    Anthocyanins (mg)42.05–

    Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron from plant foods.

  3. Note3 / 5

    KEY CONCEPTS

    1. What is hidden hunger?

    It is a deficiency of micronutrients such as iron, zinc, iodine and vitamins, even when people eat enough calories. It harms immunity, growth and learning.

    1. What is biofortification?

    It raises nutrient levels in crops through breeding, rather than adding nutrients during processing. Examples include iron-rich pearl millet and zinc-rich wheat.

    1. How is it different from food fortification?

    Fortification adds nutrients to foods after harvest, such as iodised salt or fortified rice. Biofortification builds them into the plant.

    1. What are anthocyanins?

    Natural pigments that give purple, blue and red colours, as in jamun and blueberries. They have antioxidant properties.

  4. Note4 / 5

    PROMISE AND DOUBTS

    This card sets out documented positions. It does not adjudicate between them.

    • Promise: Potatoes are widely eaten, so a more nutritious variety can reach many people.
    • Evidence elsewhere: Studies have shown iron-biofortified pearl millet can improve children's iron status.
    • Cost and price: Higher seed or production costs may make it pricier than ordinary potatoes.
    • Uptake: Consumers may be unfamiliar with purple potatoes; farmers need a market.
    • Delivery: Cooking and storage may reduce some nutrients; how much iron the body absorbs needs testing.
    • Scale: It complements, not replaces, diet diversity and other programmes.
  5. Note5 / 5

    WAY FORWARD

    These are suggested measures, not approved policy.

    • Test real benefits through feeding studies, not just lab values.
    • Build markets through public programmes like PM POSHAN and processed products.
    • Support farmers with quality seed and assured buyers.
    • Combine approaches: biofortification, fortification, diverse diets and health care.

Sources

Syllabus

PaperSubjectSub-topic
GS3EconomyAgriculture, biotechnology, food security
GS2Social JusticeHealth and nutrition
PrelimsScience & TechnologyBiofortification, hidden hunger, NFHS-5, ICAR institutes

Topics

Agriculture and EnvironmentBiotechnologyHealth

Related previous-year questions

Asked in earlier UPSC Prelims papers on this topic. Answer, then check.

  1. UPSC Prelims 2016 · Science and Technology · Health

    With reference to ‘Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion’, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. This initiative aims to demonstrate the improved production and post-harvest technologies, and to demonstrate value addition techniques, in an integrated manner, with cluster approach. 2. Poor, small, marginal and tribal farmers have larger stake in this scheme. 3. An important objective of the scheme is to encourage farmers of commercial crops to shift to millet cultivation by offering them free kits of critical inputs of nutrients and microirrigation equipment. Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 and 3 only
    3. 1 and 2 only
    4. 1, 2 and 3
    Show answer

    Answer: C. VERDICT: The answer is 1 and 2 only. The millets initiative demonstrates improved technologies with a cluster approach and benefits poor and tribal farmers, but it does not lure commercial crop farmers with free kits. ANALYSIS: Statement 1 is CORRECT. The Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion demonstrates improved production and post harvest technologies and value addition techniques in an integrated manner using a cluster approach. Statement 2 is CORRECT. Millets are grown in regions of low rainfall and poor arid soils by farmers who cannot afford costly irrigation, so poor, small, marginal and tribal farmers have the larger stake. Statement 3 is INCORRECT. The scheme works with existing millet growers rather than offering free inputs and micro irrigation to shift commercial crop farmers into millets. SOURCE: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation material on the initiative. Source type RR. HOW TO CRACK IT: Match the intervention to its natural constituency. Millets are the crop of dryland, resource poor farming, so a millet promotion scheme addresses those farmers rather than commercial crop growers, and the two ideas cannot both be true. Statement 3 also promises free inputs, and free is a strong word that agricultural schemes usually avoid in favour of subsidy and demonstration. Constituency plus quantifier settles it.

    Difficulty: hard · statement

    Open this question on its own page, with the full explanation →

  2. UPSC Prelims 2016 · Indian Economy · Economic Growth

    Which of the following is/are used by IFPRI to compute the Global Hunger Index Report? 1. Undernourishment 2. Child stunting 3. Child mortality Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    1. 1 only
    2. 2 and 3 only
    3. 1, 2 and 3
    4. 1 and 3 only
    Show answer

    Answer: C. VERDICT: The answer is 1, 2 and 3. The Global Hunger Index uses undernourishment, child stunting and child mortality among its indicators. ANALYSIS: The Index is calculated annually by the International Food Policy Research Institute to measure and track hunger globally and by country and region, and it is deliberately multidimensional rather than resting on calorie supply alone. Undernourishment captures inadequate food supply at population level, child stunting captures chronic undernutrition reflected in height for age, and child mortality captures the lethal consequence of inadequate nutrition and health. Child wasting, weight for height, is the fourth component of the composite. SOURCE: The Hindu report on hunger estimates for India. Source type EN. HOW TO CRACK IT: Reason from why a composite index exists at all. A single supply side measure would miss quality, absorption and outcome, so any credible hunger index must combine a supply indicator with child nutrition status and a mortality outcome. Testing each listed component against those three dimensions confirms all of them without recalling the formula. Where a question lists plausible components of an index and none contains an error, the inclusive option is usually right.

    Difficulty: medium · statement

    Open this question on its own page, with the full explanation →

Practice questions

  1. "Hidden hunger" refers to:

    1. Starvation due to famine
    2. Micronutrient deficiencies despite adequate calorie intake
    3. Excess calorie intake
    4. Protein-energy malnutrition only
    Show answer

    Answer: B. It affects immunity, growth and learning.

    Difficulty: medium · statement

  2. Biofortification differs from food fortification because it:

    1. Adds nutrients during processing
    2. Raises nutrient levels in the crop itself through breeding
    3. Uses only chemical additives
    4. Applies only to salt
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Fortification adds nutrients after harvest.

    Difficulty: medium · statement

  3. The Central Potato Research Institute is located in:

    1. Shimla
    2. Jalandhar
    3. Agra
    4. Patna
    Show answer

    Answer: A. It is an ICAR institute.

    Difficulty: medium · statement

Mains practice

Answer-writing practice on this article. Attempt it first, then open the hints.

  1. GS3 · 150 words

    "Nutrition-sensitive agriculture is key to tackling hidden hunger." Discuss with reference to biofortified crops in India.

    Show hints
    1. Hidden hunger
    2. biofortification vs fortification
    3. examples, uptake
    4. cost, evidence
    5. diet diversity.