SEHAT Mission: ICAR-ICMR Farm-to-Plate Health Initiative
Why in the news
The Centre launched the SEHAT Mission, placing farming and healthcare under one science-led framework. It is anchored by ICAR and ICMR and aims to prevent illness through what people grow and eat.
Key facts
- Full form: Science Excellence for Health through Agricultural Transformation.
- Partners: ICAR (agriculture ministry) and ICMR (health ministry).
- Vision line: Healthy Food, Healthy Farms, Healthy India.
- Approach: a science chain running farm to plate, meant to prevent disease and secure nutrition.
- Targets malnutrition and growing non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Main interventions
| Area | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Biofortification | Crops naturally enriched with zinc, iron and other micronutrients |
| Millets | Kodo, Kutki, Ragi, Jowar, Bajra |
| Integrated farming | Crops with animal husbandry, fisheries and beekeeping |
| Farmer safety | Less exposure to pesticides and hazardous chemicals |
| NCD diets | Foods to help against diabetes, hypertension and cancer |
| One Health | Joint planning on human, animal and environmental health |
| Evidence base | Real-time dashboards and research databases |
Background
- ICAR (1929) is the top body guiding agricultural, animal husbandry and fisheries research and education, under DARE.
- ICMR is the apex body for biomedical research, under the Department of Health Research.
- Biofortification raises crop nutrition through breeding or biotechnology, not supplements; it targets hidden hunger, a shortage of micronutrients despite enough calories.
- Millets resist climate stress, are nutrient-rich and low-glycaemic; India led the 2023 International Year of Millets and calls them Shree Anna.
- One Health treats human, animal and environmental health as linked, backed globally by WHO, FAO, WOAH and UNEP.
- Integrated Farming System blends crops, livestock, fisheries, poultry and more on one farm, reusing by-products.
Significance
- Complements POSHAN Abhiyaan, National Health Mission, Eat Right India, the Millet Mission and the Aspirational Districts Programme.
- Farmers face occupational risks yet their own health is under-monitored.
- Changing what farms produce is key to solving malnutrition.
Exam angle
- Implementing bodies: ICAR and ICMR.
- Tagline: Healthy Food, Healthy Farms, Healthy India.
- Related terms: biofortification, hidden hunger, Shree Anna, One Health, IFS.