Gorakhpur
in Uttar Pradesh, Koraput in Odisha and Thane in Maharashtra initiated India’s
‘Zero Hunger’ programme in 2018.
It
will be initiated by the Indian Council
of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in association with the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR), the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and the
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
These
three districts would act as a model of an integrated approach adopting
suitable agricultural/horticultural practices.
The
programme consists of organisations of farming system for nutrition, setting up
genetic gardens and initiation of Zero Hunger‘training.
A
genetic garden for biofortified plants/crops contains the germplasm of
naturally biofortified crops or such crops through plant breeding.
It
has plants and crops that help supplement micro- nutrient deficiencies,
including iron, iodine, vitamin A and zinc among others.