In 1884, the first correlation between beriberi and a dietary factor was made by Takaki Kanehiro, a Japanese Naval doctor. He noticed that crews on ships fed unpolished rice had fewer beriberi cases than those fed polished rice. Later, Christian Eijikman in the Dutch East Indies (Now, Indonesia) demonstrated that polished rice could induce beriberi in chickens and this could be reversed by feeding them unpolished rice. This experiment provided strong evidence that beriberi was linked to food, especially the lack of a nutrient in polished rice. Eijkman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1929 because his observation led to the discovery of Vitamin B1 (Thiamine). Similarly, scurvy was found to be linked with nutrient Vitamin C which we normally get from our foods.

It is also well known that there are so many other essential nutrients we regularly get from our foods such as carbohydrate, proteins, iodine, phosphorous (P), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), Iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), sodium (Na), potassium (K) etc. which play a vital role in our well -being. The foundation of our health is what we eat. Evolution of the nutritional profile of food we consume regularly suggests that in the last three decades or so, many of our food items have rapidly lost their nutritional values. For example, carbohydrate levels in Bajra (Pearl Millet) have reduced by 8.5 per cent, and in whole wheat by 9 per cent.

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Similarly, pulses are being depleted of their key nutrient ~ protein as it has been reduced by 10.4 per cent in mas – oor (whole brown) and 6.12 per cent in moong (who le green). In potatoes, thiamine, Mg and Zn have been reduced. Micronutrients such as Fe, Thiamine, Mg and Zn have reduced by as much as 41-56 per cent in cabbage. Red tomatoes have lost thiamine, Fe and Zn by 66-73 per cent, Green tomatoes and apples have lost Fe by 76.6 and 60 per cent respectively. With a growing number of health conscious and concerns about gluten content in rice and wheat, many now prefer coarse grains as they come loaded with micro – nutrients.

An analysis shows that the levels of thiamine, Fe and riboflavin have reduced in pearl millet, barley, sorghum and maize. Analysis of the nutrient profiles of harvested rice and wheat grains deserves special mention, because these food grains, whi – ch meet over 50 per cent of the daily energy requirements of people of India, have lost up to 45 per cent of their food value in the last 50 years or so. At this rate, grains will become impoveris hed for human consumption by 2040 as per opinion of experts. What seems to be a matter of grave concern is that along with diminishing nutrient levels, the concentration of toxic elements have increased in foodgrains and vegetables.

As mentioned above, in the past five decades, the concentration of essential nutrients like Zn and Fe has decreased by 33 and 27 per cent in rice, and by 30 and 19 per cent in wheat respectively. In contrast, the concentration of arsenic, a toxic element, in rice has increased by 1,493 percent. In other words, our staple food grains are not only less nutritious, but also harmful to health. Health experts have warned that the impoverished staple foodgrains could worsen the country’s growing burden of non communicable diseases (NCD). There is strong evidence that oral ingestion of metal toxicants such as arsenic, chromium, barium and strontium has toxic effects like lung cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, renal toxicity and impaired bone calcination. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reports show a decline in child stunting ~ an indicator of micronutrient deficiencies ~ bet – ween 2015-16 and 2019 -21, but the rate still remains high at 35 per cent among children under five years of age. In 161 districts, more than 40 per cent of children under five years of age suffer from stunting.

No doubt, there remain several reasons for high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies (hidden hunger) among children in India, but scientists assert that the diminishing food value in staple food grains could be a significant contributor to the problem. The ICMR-National Institute for Nutrition (NIN) in Hyderabad is the premier national institution for evaluating the nutritive value of Indian foods. It is a leading research institution under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and has a long history of studying and assessing the nutritional content of various Indian foods. The NIN scientists hint at three factors responsible for the nutritional depletion of Indian foods produced by agricultural practices: poor seeds, air pollution and unhealthy soils. Plants ab – sorb nutrients from soil and water through roots and those nutrients help plants grow and develop.

When we eat plants ~ or animals that eat plants ~ we get nutrients. In this way, the soil provides essential nutrients not just to plants, but to all living things through the food chain. From the very beginning of the Green Revolution (GR) introduced in 1967, plant genetics have been so obsessed with growing more food that they no longer do the fundamental job of delivering nutrition from soil to foodgrains. With the adv – ent of the GR technology, the biomass-based fertilizers started losing ground to three key synthetic fertilizers such as Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and Potash (K) as the government subsidized the three. Later on, the subsidy got restricted just for nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea and ammonia. According to plant scientists, for healthy plant growth, 17 nutrients are required. Three of them ~ carbon, hydrogen and oxygen ~ are derived from air or water or both.

The rest can be extracted from soil only. While for healthy growth, a plant needs 14 nutrients, we add only three nutrients (N.P.K). While N helps good vegetative growth, P helps in photosynthesis and fruit formation and K in deepening of roots and improving the size, shape and colour of fruits. For good growth the plant extracts other nutrients from the soil. If soil suffers from deficiency of any nutrient, the plant gets deprived of that nutrient. As by adding NPK we get green fields full of properly grown plants having fruits/seeds of good shape, size and colour, we continue this process and do not bother about soil health.

But very soon, the soil will be deficient in other nutrients which will be reflected in the reduction of nutrients in the grains and fruits produced on that soil. Experiments have shown that the decrease in grain mineral densities coincided with the introduction of semi-dwarf, high-yielding cultivars in GR. The findings lead us to infer that the modern-bred cultivars of rice and wheat are less efficient in sequestering Zn and Fe, des – pite their abundance in soil. A study also hinted that during the process of breeding of high yiel – ding varieties the land’s inherent intricate regularity mechanisms for balanced uptake and distribution of minerals and nutrients has been disrupted. The traditional rice and wheat varieties developed over time through selection by farmers are not only highly suited for the local agroecology, but also had rich nutritional contents.

Apart from impacting nutritional values of the food the synthetic fertilizers are the mainstay of GR, and are detrimental for the life support systems of the earth. Today only 20-30 per cent of synthetic N fertilizers are used by plants, with the rest running off into water causing pollution. The latest Greenpeace report has exposed that synthetic N fertilizers are responsible for as such as 2.4 per cent of total GHGs emissions. It is well kno – wn that nitrous oxide is 300 times more potent GHG than CO2, and it also depletes the ozone layer. High nitrate concentrations accumulate in edible parts of leafy vegetables. The synthetic fertilizers have a direct impact on the soil microorganisms. Excessive fertilizer application aggraves the decline of soil organic mater and fertility and accelerates soil acidification.

The existing global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, with agriculture alone being the identified threat to 24,000 of the 28,000 (86 per cent) species at risk of extinction. By virtue of the Green Revolution we have gained quantity but lost quality of products. The pattern is not unique to India. Scientists from several other countries have also reported similar depletion in nutritional levels in food grains since the introduction of high-yielding varieties. Agricultural products we are consuming have lost food value. Instead, they are accumulating toxins. However, world-wide, desperation is haunting humanity. This time, agricultural scientists have turned to wild species of cultivable varieties for answers. In the past one decade, scie n tists at ICAR and agriculture universities have undertaken germplasm exploration across the cou n try to find donor varieties that are high in nutritional content under a special project on biofortification, launched by the Union government. In the words of Albert Einstein: “Human Spirit must prevail over technology.”

(The writer is a retired IAS officer)