Fertilizers, Grain Quality, and Nutrition-Related Human Ailments: An Overview

There are four major nutrition-related human ailments, namely protein-energy malnutrition, iron deficiency anemia, iodine deficiency, and calcium deficiency osteoporosis. In addition, Zn deficiency leading to dwarfism and hypogonadism is also prevalent in several developing countries in the world. In severity of these ailments, medical intervention is the only way, but is expensive, and people below poverty line cannot afford it. It is brought out that proper fertilization with N, P, S, Fe, and Zn can improve grain and straw (cattle feed) content in protein and concentration of P, S, Fe, and Zn and help in alleviating these ailments. There is an urgent need for creating nutritional quality consciousness of food grains in India. This point needs to be brought home in view of increasing negative comments on fertilizer from the environmentalists. © 2018, The National Academy of Sciences, India.