Question

What measures does government take for food security in india?

Answer 1

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$\huge\texttt{MEASURES ARE AS FOLLOWS:-}}$

Urbanisation and growing non-agricultural business establishments in rural India have led to shrinking cultivation area. However, through increasing productivity by growing High Yielding Varieties (HYV), India is food secure. India’s foodgrain production increased from 50.82 million tonnes in 1950-51 to more than 260 million tonnes at present. But food security has to be examined in terms of availability, accessibility, utilization and vulnerability. Therefore, apart from production policies and programmes relating to buffer stocking, distribution, monitoring prices become important.

Food security, both at the national and household levels, has been the focus of agricultural development in India ever since the mid-sixties when import dependence for cereals had gone up to 16 percent. The new approach intended at maximizing the production of cereals and involved building a foundation of food security on three key elements including provision of an improved agricultural technology package to the farmers, delivery of modern farm inputs, technical know-how and institutional credit to the farmer. The performance of agriculture, however, has not been satisfactory. The share of agriculture in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has registered a steady decline from 36.4 percent in 1982-83 to 13.7 percent in 2015-16. But agricultural sector continues to support more than half a billion people providing employment to 52 percent of the workforce.

The following are the measures to be taken for achieving food security for growing population through higher food production.

1. Education and literacy

Role of education in improving farm efficiency and technology adoption has been well established. As agriculture transformed from subsistence to commercial level, farmers seek information on a wide range of issues to acquire knowledge or upgrade their skills and entrepreneurial ability. Literacy emerges as an important source of growth in adoption of technology, and use of modern inputs like fertilizers and machines.

An educated workforce makes it easier to train and acquire new skills and technologies required for productivity growth. Thus, contribution of literacy will be substantial on yield growth and domestic supply of food.

2. Crop diversification

Food availability is a necessary condition for food security. India is more or less self sufficient in cereals but has deficit in pulses and oilseeds. Due to changes in consumption patterns, demand for fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry, and fishery products has been increasing. There is a need to increase crop diversification and improve allied activities to produce such crops and produces in which we are deficient.

3. Tackling climate change

Food security in India can be achieved by paying higher attention to issues such as climate change, limiting global warming, including the promotion of climate-smart agricultural production systems and land use policies at a scale to help adapt and mitigate ill effects of climate change.

4. Integrated water management

India needs to produce more crop per unit of land and water resources. Alarming rates of groundwater depletions and increasing environmental and social problems pose acute threats to mankind. Improved management of irrigation water is essential in enhancing production and productivity, food security and poverty alleviation. Agriculture is the biggest user of water accounting for over 80 percent of the water withdrawals. There are pressures for diverting water from agriculture to other sectors. It has been projected that availability of water for agriculture use in India may be reduced by 21 percent by 2020, resulting in drop of yields, especially rice, leading to price rise and threat to food security of the poor. The needs of other sectors for water cannot be ignored. As a result, it is necessary that an integrated water use policy is formulated and judiciously implemented. Modern methods of irrigation like sprinkler, drip irrigation, fertigation, among other water efficient tools need to be adopted on larger scale.

5. Integrated nutrient management

Attention needs to be given to balanced use of nutrients. Phosphorus deficiency is the most wide spread soil fertility problem in both irrigated and non-irrigated rainfed areas. To improve the efficiency of fertilizer-use, what really needed is enhanced location-specific research on efficient fertilizer practices, improvement in soil testing services, development of improved fertilizer supply and distribution systems and development of physical and institutional infrastructures.