Food Security and Indian Agriculture

Abstract

The food insecurity is a gigantic problem in front of the world population. In spite of the reaching horizon of economic development, people are struggling for the survival of their daily life as at least 25,000 die people every day due lack of proper diets. Nearly 852 million people in the world are victims of vicious cycle of maturation and chronic hunger. It was a period of last 30 years when 70 per cent enhance was in the world population, world agriculture produced 17 per cent more calories per person today. The present study is an attempt to analyse the current agricultural scenario and global food insecurity and to identify the discrepancies in the system, find the ways to remove the anomalies and to make the mechanism more effective for achieving food security to all. India ranks 94th in the Global Hunger Index of 119 countries and there is paradoxical situation in endemic mass-hunger coexisting with the mounting food grain stocks. So, effective measures are needed to achieve the goal of hunger free, food and nutritional secure India. Food security act is an opportunity and this can be regarded as appreciable step in India. But the framework of poverty estimation and identification is complex and impractical. Proper distribution and procurement are the issues in the way of implementation of the act. The need of the time is simplified, transparent and equitable framework for practicability of the act. Community measures like education, health facilities, children care and women empowerment are some issues which can improve the nutritional status at household level because in India women and children are mostly affected by food insecurity. In country like India where barriers like caste, religion and socioeconomic culture are dominant, community measures can play important role in solving the problem of food security at micro level.