Australian scientists have genetically modified bananas so the fruit is not only full of vitamins but also rich with iron.

They are now sharing the technology with Indian scientists and farmers to help address widespread anaemia in the country, which can lead to death during childbirth.

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) signed an agreement with India's department of biotechnology to invest in a four-year project to develop the iron-rich bananas.

Professor James Dale says the research is an extension of a far north Queensland program backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

"It means that we'll be working with five Indian institutes to develop bananas particularly with high levels of iron," he said.

"The reason that we're targeting iron is that much of the Indian population has a high level of iron-deficiency anaemia because many of them are vegetarians and it's very difficult from a vegetarian diet to get enough iron."

Professor Dale says iron-deficiency anaemia is a major cause of maternal death during childbirth in India.

"Micronutrient deficiencies are about the third largest public health problem in the world. HIV/AIDS and malaria tend to be one and two and they swap around a bit," he said.

"There have been a whole lot of strategies to overcome micronutrient deficiencies, particularly in developing countries.

"Supplements and food fortification, but a large of proportion of the population seems to be resistant to those strategies.

"So the strategy we're now using, and a number of other groups in the world, is to generate staple crops or staple foods that have those micronutrients in them."

He says it is a cheap, and hopefully effective, way to overcome iron deficiencies.

"India is the largest producer of bananas in the world but they don't export any; all of them are consumed locally," he said.

"So it's a very good target to be able to increase the amount of iron in bananas that can then be distributed to the poor and subsistence farmers."

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Uganda

Professor Dale says his team is already developing nutrient-dense bananas for farmers in Uganda.

"Our first target for Uganda was Provitamin A," he said.

"Provitamin A or beta carotene is converted by the human body into vitamin A or retinol.

"We've now got bananas that have up to a 25-fold increase in the level of Provitamin A, which is way above the target we needed and that technology has already been transferred to Uganda."

But Professor Dale says it will take some years for India to see the fruits of his labour.

"We've signed the agreement for the first four years, starting this year, and that will get right the way through proof of principle," he said.

"Then a decision will be made, 'OK we're going to now take those plants through from that proof of concept, proof of principle right the way through to release to farmers'.

"We believe that will be an extra five years, so it'll probably be a nine to 10-year project before farmers actually see them in their fields."