Agriculture Productivity and Food Security in India

by

Dr.T.Umapathy S/o C.Thulsidass

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics,

D.G.Vaishnav College, Arumbakkam, Chennai 600 106

 

Introduction

 

Developing countries like India need to ensure Food security which is going to be an issue in forthcoming years, The primary reason for food insecurity is lack of access to nutritious food at affordable prices, Climate change, lack of resources (including financial resources and other resources such as transport), degradation of the soil, lack of access to food due to geographical isolation, and lack of knowledge about a nutritious diet, etc.,

Food security must ensure the physical availability of food to the entire population in a country to fulfill their necessary need for a happy and healthy life. Food availability should be adequate both in quality and quantity to meet the nutritional requirement.

India is aware of the issues related to requirement the requirement of food grain and has given priority since the inception of the planning commission. India faced severe drought, particularly during the 1960s. Under Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi the Government of India worked for a policy called Green Revelation helps us to improve or achieve self-sufficiency in Food Grain by the end of the 1970s.

 

 

Avenues to support Agricultural Production:

 

Agriculture is one of the lives giving Sectors strengthening rural economy especially providing food security to the masses. Therefore, it needs support from the public sector for sustainable growth. In addition to the other schemes, Kissan Credit Card has been launched by Central Government in the year 1998 to provide farm credit at a subsidized rate to support the poor and marginal farmers. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture is started in the year 2014-15 exclusively to promote best farming practices such as soil Conservation and Nutrient Management, Efficient Water management, etc.,

Besides saving the farmers from unexpected floods, droughts, and poor weather conditions, which cause damage to crops further leads to financial loss to the farmers, so the Government introduced Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojan (PMFBY) in the year 2016 to provide crop insurance. The irrigation scheme has been approved with Rs.50,000 crores to benefit the farmers under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) in 2015. Organic farming is the need of the hour Indian government provides Rs.50,000 per hector every three years or organic inputs to encourage the farmers under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) in the year 2015. E- National Agriculture Market (E-NAM) Multi-trade connect scheme launched in 2016 to support Agricultural Trading. These are some potential Avenues to strengthen the Agricultural Sector for sustainable growth.

Threats to Food Security:

 

Every aspect of the Indian economy encountered numerous threats related to food security. Economists worried about the unsolved challenges such as overpopulation, unfavorable Climate, Urbanization, Soil erosion, Land & water pollution, Wastage of food, high price, Natural disaster, Poor warehouse facilities, etc.,

Potential Avenues and Threat (PAT) Analysis:

Table 1: Annual growth rate of Food Grain Production and Population:

Year

Food Grain Production

(MT)

Annual Growth Rate of Food Grains

Population

(M)

Annual Growth Rate of Population

2010-11

244.49

-

1210.86

-

2011-12

259.29

6.05

1226.73

1.31

2012-13

257.13

-0.83

1242.61

1.29

2013-14

265.04

3.07

1258.48

1.27

2014-15

252.02

-0.01

1274.36

1.26

2015-16

251.57

-0.17

1290.24

1.24

2016-17

275.68

9.58

1304.46

1.10

2017-18

285.01

3.38

1318.68

1.07

Average

 

3.01

 

1.22

Source:

1. Department of Food and Public Distribution

2. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare.

3. Ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

 

Table: 1 displays the annual growth rate of food grain production and population for the specific eight-year period. Foodgrain production augmented from 244.49 million tonnes in 2010-11 to 285.01 million tonnes in 2017-18, but there was a steep fall in foodgrain production in 2015-16. The data shows an average annual growth rate of food grains by 3.01 million tonnes, besides the population, has also increased from 1210.86 million in 2010-11 to 1318.68 million in 2017-18. The average annual rate of increase of population is 1.22 million. As the average annual rate of food grain production more than the population represents that sufficient food is available to meet the needs of the growing population in India.  Hence India is moving towards food security. India has all potential to supply food for the climbing population. Our nation works hard to increase our buffer to meet unexpected needs during disasters.

Table 2: Net Availability of foodgrains in India (per annum in India):

Year

1

Net Production of foodgrains

(MT)

2

Population

(M)

3 = 1  /  2

Per capita foodgrains  per annum in tonnes

4 = 3 X 100

Per capita foodgrains per annum in Kg

2010-11

213.9

1210.86

0.17665

176.65

2011-12

232.9

1226.73

0.18985

189.85

2012-13

231.9

1242.61

0.18662

186.62

2013-14

231.9

1258.48

0.18426

184.26

2014-15

220.5

1274.36

0.17302

173.02

2015-16

220.1

1290.24

0.17058

170.58

2016-17

241.7

1304.46

0.18528

185.28

2017-18

243.67

1318.68

0.18478

184.78

Average

181.38

Source:

1. Department of Food and Public Distribution

2. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare.

3.  Ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

 

As shown in Table: 2, The net availability of food grains per annum in India. It is obtained by summing up the net production of `foodgrains with the net imports and deducting the changes in government stocks. There has been an increase in the net availability of foodgrains from 213.9 million tonnes in 2010-11 to 243.67 million tonnes in 2017-18. The per capita food grain availability has derived by dividing the net availability of food grains by the population, which shows that there has been a decline in per capita foodgrains availability from 176.65 Kg in 2010-11 to 184.78 Kg in 2017-18. The average annual growth rate of per capita food grains per annum is 181.38 Kg. The average annual increase in per capita foodgrains per annum exceed the standard requirement of 176 Kg per head per annum, stipulated by the Indian Council for Medical Research. It further reiterates the inference that India fulfills the goal of food security. 

 

Conclusion

India has the potential to feed the population provided with the factors supporting the farm sector. Providing subsistence alone will never generate income in a country, but the export of Agricultural Commodities also strengthens our National Income. It is essential to increase the food grain production to lift the surplus and balance international trade. All the threats have to be seriously viewed to overcome the shortfall in foodgrains production.

 

References:

Book

Bhalla G.S (1994), “Policy for food security in India” in G.S. Bhalla (ed.), Economic Liberalization and Indian Agriculture, Institute for studies in Industrial Development. (New Delhi).

Journals

Bandypadhyay (1997), “Food security and Liberalization”,N\ew Age, Vol.45 (1), January, p-8.

Rajeev, P.V (1997), “ Poverty and food security in India” Southern Economist, January-15.

Swaminathan,  M.S (2002), “Food security and community gains bank”, Yojana, Vol.46, pp, 15-19.

Reprorts

1. Department of Food and Public Distribution

2. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare.

3. Ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

4. Economic Survey Various issues

 

 

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