While staples like rice, wheat and maize sustain millions in Asia and Africa, their refined grains lack essential nutrients, driving widespread protein malnutrition and diabetes. To revitalise traditional staples, scientists propose biofortifying cereals, as replacing just 5 per cent of refined carbohydrates with protein significantly reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases.
A plant-based solution that combines cereals with protein-rich legumes can also reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 32 per cent, since animal sources produce very high emissions.
Though cereals themselves contribute to agricultural emissions through nitrogen fertilizer use and methane release in flooded rice systems, emissions by livestock-based meat are higher.
“Rice feeds more than half of the world’s population, yet it is naturally low in protein (6 per cent ) and key essential amino acids that our bodies need for growth, immunity, and overall health. Improving the nutritional quality of rice, therefore, represents one of the most powerful ways to combat hidden hunger, particularly in Asia and Africa, where rice is a staple food,” Nese Srinivasalu, a scientist with International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), told businessline.
“By increasing the protein and essential amino acid content of rice grains, we can help millions of people obtain better nutrition without changing their diets or food habits,” he said.
He, along with a few other scientists, published an article ‘Cereal protein biofortification at the interface of nutrition, yield and sustainability’ in Nature Plants. Quoting studies, he said that about 60 per cent of the calories humans consume in India come from refined carbohydrates. “Over 101 million people suffer from type-2 diabetes in India, who also face protein-energy malnutrition. Replacing carbohydrates with 5 per cent protein can reduce non-communicable diseases significantly,” he said. Cereal-legume intercropping would be an efficient strategy to meet essential amino acid requirements in vulnerable populations.
He said IRRI scientists developed high-protein, ultra-low-glycemic-index (low-GI) rice with elevated levels of essential amino acids, such as lysine. These nutritious varieties are high-yielding, and the crop yield can be harvested within 100-110 days.
Genetic mechanisms
These genetic mechanisms can be extended to other cereal crops. Through collaborations with the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Germany and the National Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement at Huazhong Agricultural University in China, researchers have identified key genes that control protein accumulation and essential amino acid composition in cereal grains. “We have outlined a One Health Framework for cereal protein biofortification by focusing on nutrition, yield and sustainability,” he said. Stating that cereal protein enhancement has historically been challenging, the team argued that recent molecular and genomic insights are beginning to overcome these barriers.
“Because we now understand these genetic mechanisms, these traits can be efficiently incorporated into modern rice breeding programmes and eventually extended to other staple crops,” he said.
Published on April 5, 2026