Exploring the Role of Biofortification in Combating Micronutrient Deficiencies and Enhancing Nutritional Security

Biofortification is a rapidly advancing field at the intersection of plant science, nutrition, soil health, food safety, and sustainable water management. Micronutrient deficiencies, or “hidden hunger,” remain a major global health challenge because staple crops often fail to supply sufficient levels of essential nutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium, iodine, and provitamin A. Yet crop nutrient density is not determined by genetics and fertilizer management alone. Water availability, irrigation method, water quality, salinity, redox conditions, and water-mediated soil and rhizosphere processes strongly influence micronutrient solubility, plant uptake, translocation, and final accumulation in edible tissues. These same water-related processes can also increase the mobilization and uptake of toxic elements such as arsenic and cadmium, creating trade-offs between nutritional improvement, food safety, and sustainable resource use. As water scarcity, groundwater depletion, wastewater reuse, salinization, and climate variability intensify across agricultural regions, there is an urgent need to reframe biofortification within a water-smart food production perspective. Despite progress in crop breeding, agronomic biofortification, and nutritional assessment, major gaps remain in understanding how hydrological conditions and water management shape micronutrient enrichment, contaminant risks, and trait stability across environments. A stronger integration of crop-water relations, soil–water–plant mineral dynamics, irrigation practices, and water quality considerations is essential if biofortification is to contribute meaningfully to safe, resilient, and resource-efficient food systems. This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of how sustainable water management can support biofortification outcomes in staple and underutilized crops while safeguarding food and water resources. It seeks to bring together evidence from plant physiology, hydrology, soil science, agronomy, genetics, breeding, nutrition, and social sciences to examine how water quantity, water quality, and irrigation strategies interact with genotype and environment to determine nutrient density and contaminant accumulation. Central objectives include identifying water-mediated mechanisms that regulate mineral uptake and partitioning; evaluating irrigation and soil-water management strategies that enhance micronutrient accumulation and reduce toxic element exposure; developing crop improvement approaches for nutrient-dense varieties adapted to water-limited or water-variable conditions; and assessing the real-world feasibility, safety, and adoption of water-smart biofortification interventions across diverse food systems. The scope of this Research Topic encompasses laboratory, greenhouse, field, farm, and community-level studies, as well as modeling and policy analyses, provided they maintain a clear and explicit focus on water-smart food production. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary contributions that connect water management to nutritional quality, food safety, water productivity, and livelihood outcomes. The Topic is limited to research that evaluates biofortification within the context of sustainable water use, water conservation, irrigation efficiency, water quality management, or hydrological resilience in food production systems. To gather further insights in this timely area, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: Crop-water relations and water-mediated rhizosphere processes influencing micronutrient uptake, transport, and accumulation in edible plant tissues; Effects of irrigation practices, including deficit irrigation, drip irrigation, fertigation, alternate wetting and drying, and precision water management, on crop nutrient density and grain quality; Influence of water quality, including salinity, alkalinity, groundwater composition, and treated wastewater reuse, on biofortification outcomes and contaminant risks; Hydrological and redox controls on the mobilization, uptake, and mitigation of toxic elements such as arsenic and cadmium in biofortified cropping systems;Genotype-by-environment-by-water management interactions and trait stability across contrasting hydrological and agroecological conditions;High-throughput phenotyping, ionomics, and remote or proximal sensing approaches for evaluating nutritional traits under differing water regimes; Genomics-assisted breeding, QTL mapping, genome editing, and trait discovery for nutrient-dense, water-efficient, and contaminant-resilient crop varieties;Agronomic biofortification strategies that integrate nutrient management with water-saving technologies, soil moisture regulation, and improved water productivity;Nutritional water productivity and other metrics linking micronutrient output to water use efficiency in food production systems;Effects of post-harvest processing, cooking, and household water quality on nutrient retention, bioavailability, and contaminant exposure;Risk assessment and mitigation strategies to ensure food and water safety in water-smart biofortification programs; Socio-economic, policy, regulatory, and adoption studies on scaling water-smart biofortified crops, especially in water-scarce, climate-vulnerable, or resource-constrained settings. Topic editors: Sovan Debnath, Prasenjit Ray, BISWAPATI MANDAL Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79471/exploring-the-role-of-biofortification-in-combating-micronutrient-deficiencies-and-enhancing-nutritional-security