31
/ 4
Min Read
Better Nutrition, India's first biofortified food brand, has brought biofortified farming to the iconic Pataudi family farms in Haryana, in partnership with actor and author Soha Ali Khan.
In the first phase, Soha and several farming families associated with the Pataudi farms have planted biofortified wheat across nearly 45 acres this rabi season. Sown in November 2026, the crop is expected to be harvested in April 2027, with the grain going into Better Nutrition's atta range.
Soha has also invested in the brand and joined as its brand ambassador.
Speaking about the initiative, Soha Ali Khan said, "Farming has always been part of life at Pataudi, and this land holds so many memories for our family. What excites me about biofortification is that it makes the food itself more nutritious, without changing what we eat. As a mum, that matters enormously. It feels like the future of both farming and nutrition in India, and we would love to see it grow beyond our own fields to the farmers around us."
Building on the first harvest, they plan to extend biofortified farming to rice from the coming kharif season and, over time, across more of their farmland. Together with Better Nutrition, they are also exploring how farmers in the surrounding villages can adopt biofortified seeds, supported by the company's agronomy guidance, nutrient testing and assured buyback.
Growing nutrition into the grain
Unlike conventional fortification, where nutrients are added during food processing, biofortification improves the nutritional composition of crops through specially bred seeds and farming practices.
Iron and zinc deficiency remain widespread in India, including in urban and well-off households. Biofortification addresses this through the staples families already eat every day, without changing how they cook or what they eat. Because atta and rice are eaten at almost every meal, the extra iron and zinc in each serving adds up to a meaningful difference in daily intake, which matters most for growing children.
Better Nutrition's crops are grown from biofortified seeds designed to carry higher levels of essential nutrients such as iron, zinc and protein within the grain. The company uses scientific nutrient testing, including X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology, under its patent-pending TriNutrimax Protocol.
"At Better Nutrition, we believe that better nutrition should begin at the farm, not at the processing stage. Our focus has always been on improving the nutritional quality of everyday staples through better seeds, farming practices and scientific testing. Soha and her family have farmed this land for generations, so their decision to adopt biofortified seeds, and to bring neighbouring farmers along, is a strong signal of where Indian farming is heading," said Prateek Rastogi, Founder and CEO, Better Nutrition.
Expanding the biofortified farming movement
Soha's move builds on a movement led by actor Varun Dhawan, who earlier this year became the first public figure to take up biofortified farming with Better Nutrition, growing biofortified crops on his own farm. Varun's journey has sparked wide interest in where nutrition really begins, and Soha now joins him in taking the idea from the plate back to the farm.
They join a growing community of leaders from sport, cinema and food championing Better Nutrition's mission, including Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu, an investor and brand ambassador, and MasterChef Pankaj Bhadouria, the brand's culinary advisor.
Since Varun's farm journey began, the company has received interest from more than 40 public figures, business families and farm owners looking to adopt biofortified farming.
To support this interest, Better Nutrition is opening its farming model to private landowners. Under the programme, the company provides biofortified seeds, agronomy support and nutrient testing, along with a buyback arrangement for harvested grain.
Building a farm-to-consumer ecosystem
Better Nutrition is the consumer brand of Lucknow-based Greenday Farmer Solutions, founded in 2017 by Prateek Rastogi and Aishwarya Bhatnagar. It spent six years on agricultural research and on building the backbone behind the brand, from farmer partnerships to procurement and nutrient testing, before launching Better Nutrition in 2024. Today it works with more than 24,000 farmers across Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra, who earn better prices for their nutrient-rich harvests.
Its product portfolio includes biofortified whole wheat atta, Sonamoti atta, Sona Masoori rice, Kalanamak rice, stone-ground ragi atta, dals and millets.
