This piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report presents TCI scholar Bindvi Arora’s use of a novel food extrusion technology to create more nutritious puffed snacks for toddlers. Download the full annual report to read more. In recent years, parents have increasingly turned to puffed snacks, which quickly dissolve in the mouth, as a first finger food…

In an op-ed in Nature India, Tata-Cornell Institute Director Prabhu Pingali asserts that the coronavirus pandemic presents an opportunity for India to reboot its agricultural policy in favor of nutritious, sustainable crops. The piece was co-authored by Arabinda K. Padhee, country director for India at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. “Agriculture, food, and nutrition have come…

In the midst of a nationwide lockdown in India and a stay-at-home order in New York State, Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI) scholar Shiuli Vanaja completed her final PhD exam the same way that much business is completed these days—on Zoom. As the COVID-19 pandemic slows much of the global economy to a halt, TCI has continued with its…

This piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report explores TCI scholar Anthony Wenndt’s research on managing and mitigating fungal toxins in grain stores. Download the full annual report to read more. Exposure to fungal toxins, or mycotoxins, in the diet can lead to cancers, immune deficits, and growth impairment in vulnerable populations, and are associated with spoilage…

Kavya Krishnan, a Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI) scholar studying crop and soil sciences, co-authored a chapter on soil health assessment that appears in Soil Analysis: Recent Trends and Applications. Published by Springer, the book provides a synopsis of the analytical procedures used for soil analysis and is intended to help students, teachers, soil scientists, and laboratory technicians increase their…

In this piece from the TCI 2019-20 Annual Report, TCI scholar Kathryn Merckel’s research on the introduction of vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweet potatoes is presented. Download the full annual report to read more. The Indian food system’s heavy focus on staple grains, like rice and wheat, combined with stubbornly high poverty rates, leaves many people’s diets lacking…

The coronavirus pandemic will have a disparate effect on women in developing countries, says Shubh Swain, Tata-Cornell Institute gender and nutrition specialist and assistant director of Technical Assistance and Research for Indian Nutrition and Agriculture. Writing for LiveMint, Swain argues that cultural and socio-economic factors in resource-constrained countries will cause women to feel the brunt of COVID-19 and…

The Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) has published its 2019-20 Annual Report. The report features updates on research and activities from the past year, as well as information regarding upcoming projects. “I am delighted with the progress that TCI has made over the past seven years, and I am excited about the contributions that…

In this blog post, TCI postdoctoral associate Anaka Aiyar and former communications and outreach manager Jessica Ames present the “technology-plus” approach for dealing with India’s food systems challenges in the midst of climate change, as proposed in the TCI’s book, Transforming Food Systems for a Rising India. In India, as in the rest of the world, climate change…

In this blog post, TCI Scholar Anna David Thottappilly discusses her research on the effectiveness of programs that aim to improve nutrition outcomes through income enhancement. In India, an animal as small as a goat can be a key part of the fight against undernutrition. Many impoverished farming households in the country raise goats and other small…