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Economy
Mahesh

09/04/22 13:24 PM IST

Fortified Rice

In News 
  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today has accorded its approval for supply of fortified rice throughout the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman-PM POSHAN  in all States and Union Territories (UTs) by 2024 in a phased manner.
  • The entire cost of rice fortification (around Rs. 2,700 crore per annum) would be borne by the Govt. of India as part of food subsidy till its full implementation upto June, 2024.

Implementation of the Scheme 
  • Phase-I: Covering ICDS and PM POSHAN in India all over by March, 2022 which is under implementation.
  • Phase-II: Phase I above plus TPDS and OWS in all Aspirational and High Burden Districts on stunting (total 291 districts) by March 2023.
  • Phase-Ill: Phase II above plus covering the remaining districts of the country by March 2024.
Rice Fortification 
  • The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) defines fortification as “deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health”.
  • Various technologies are available to add micronutrients to regular rice, such as coating, dusting, and ‘extrusion’.
  • The last mentioned involves the production of fortified rice kernels (FRKs) from a mixture using an ‘extruder’ machine.
  • It is considered to be the best technology for India.
  • The fortified rice kernels are blended with regular rice to produce fortified rice.
Extrusion Technology 
  • Dry rice flour is mixed with a premix of micronutrients, and water is added to this mixture.
  • The mixture is passed through a twin-screw extruder with heating zones, which produces kernels similar in shape and size to rice.
  • These kernels are dried, cooled, and packaged for use.
  • FRK has a shelf life of at least 12 months.
  • The  length and breadth of the grain should be 5 mm and 2.2 mm respectively.

Need of Rice fortification 
  • India has very high levels of malnutrition among women and children.
  • According to the Food Ministry, every second woman in the country is anaemic and every third child is stunted.
  • Fortification of food is considered to be one of the most suitable methods to combat malnutrition.
  • Rice is one of India’s staple foods, consumed by about two-thirds of the population. Per capita rice consumption in India is 6.8 kg per month.
  • Therefore, fortifying rice with micronutrients is an option to supplement the diet of the poor.
Source-PIB 

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