Orange fleshed sweet potato to aid against malnutrition
Around 50 farmers from the districts of Gorakhpur and Sant Kabir Nagar are growing orange fleshed sw…Around 50 farmers from the districts of Gorakhpur and Sant Kabir Nagar are growing orange fleshed sweet potatoes in a fight against malnutrition, especially for the children in the two districts. The bio-fortified crop Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) is rich source of vitamin A.
The idea of cultivating the OFSP was conceived by a native of Gorakhpur, Ram Chet Chowdhary. He is a retired agricultural scientist who worked as assistant technical expert with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Uganda from 2006 to 2012.
Through an NGO, Chowdhary is spreading awareness about OFSP. Apart from that, he is appealing to schools to include the super food in their meals.
“While working in Uganda with the United Nations, I came to know about orange fleshed sweet potato which is a low priced crop of African countries and it is a big source of vitamin A and beta and it is almost 150 per cent higher than Vitamin A found in carrot, papaya, etc and that is why it is also known as super food," he stated.
This food can be helpful in fighting malnutrition in areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh. In 24 African countries, the food is used for tackling malnutrition and the results are 100 percent.
Source: .businessworld.in
