Let’s first tackle the problems of hunger, unsustainable agriculture
Saturday, June 25, 2022
  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Culture
  • Defence
  • RSS in News
  • Subscribe
Home General

Let’s first tackle the problems of hunger, unsustainable agriculture

Archive Manager by WEB DESK
Aug 22, 2010, 12:00 am IST
in General
Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement chairman Sohail Abro

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterTelegramEmail

INDIA’s “growth” story has a dark side. On the one hand, the GDP grew by a satisfying 7.4 per cent in 2009-10 (despite decelerating exports and that perpetual laggard, agriculture, which shuffled along at 2 per cent). Salaries went north and consumer spending followed suit. Infrastructure blossomed.

On the other hand, more than 20 crore Indians remain chronically hungry, a staggering 43 per cent of Indian children suffer from malnutrition and nearly two of every three women are anaemic. Per capita income has gone up 10 per cent but a quarter of Indians continue to live on less than a dollar a day.

If anything is taking the shine out of India’s “growth”, it is what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called our “national shame” – the largest number of hungry people in the world. In national terms, this means a large chunk of our population cannot achieve their potential because they are underfed and undernourished.

The UPA government hopes to address the twin issues of hunger and malnutrition through the National Food Security Act (NFSA), which will make the right to food a legal entitlement. There is general agreement that every last Indian is entitled to a full stomach.

Conceptually, this is unexceptionable and has been welcomed across the board. Then why is the government wrestling with the issue of food entitlements? Why are the Planning Commission, the National Advisory Council (NAC) and the Ministry of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs locked in battle over who should have the right to food and how much of it? Surely there is enough for all?

Apparently not. In recent years, there has been an increase in the production of wheat, rice and coarse grains, averaging around 218 million tonnes per annum. But after accounting for wastage, the per capita cereal intake requirement of 425 gms recommended by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) is difficult to meet, especially in view of the fact that availability of pulses and other food items which are our main source of nutrients, is far below the minimum required level.

So, although the NAC wants universal coverage under the proposed NFSA, it is being brought to realise that this may not be possible due to limited availability of foodgrains. The government therefore seeks to define who is poor and as such, should be covered under the NFSA. From the plethora of poverty estimates, it has settled on the Tendulkar Committee’s recommendations and accepted that 8.06 crore households in the country qualify as poor. To these, it proposes to give 35 kgs of foodgrains every month.

This is assumed to be half the monthly foodgrain requirement of a family of five. The new thinking is that foodgrains should now be allocated on a per capita rather than per family basis, as the size of the family is believed to have shrunk. Each person would be entitled to 6 kg of foodgrains per month. This works out to an annual per capita allocation of 72 kg of foodgrains per year.

Clearly, considering that a person is expected to consume a little under l kg of foodgrains every two days to remain healthy, in addition to other foodstuffs, the allocations under the proposed NFSA are meant to be strictly supplementary. How this limited food entitlement gels with the NAC’s concept of universal coverage remains to be seen.

There are many policy initiatives aimed at tackling hunger, whether it is the Mid-day Meal Programme or the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and these have had a Tangible Impact. Of course, the other aspect of the hunger debate is that food availability alone cannot ensure access to adequate nutrition. It is only one among many reasons for chronic hunger, just as food insecurity is one of several factors leading to malnutrition. Health, access to drinking water, sanitation, changing patterns of agriculture and social factors have a critical role to play. Experience has shown that with strong political will, keeping all these factors in mind, delivery can be ensured.

What emerges from the above is that agricultural output needs a major boost in order to tackle hunger. The current scenario is not encouraging. The main cereal producing states of Punjab and Haryana have shown a deceleration in agriculture. In the majority of states, population has outstripped agricultural growth.

The government had pinned its hopes on a “second green revolution”, which was to be powered by biotechnology and was the favourite agricultural catchphrase of UPA-I. This, however, has not materialised as genetically modified (GM) seeds have not lived up to their promised potential – rather the reverse. In UPA-II, the term appears to have lost its flavour.

Instead, we hear of the East India Green Revolution, which is to be based on the “China model”- use of hybrid varieties of rice and agrochemical inputs. As has become the norm in every sector of the economy, we look eastwards for inspiration. The consequences of adopting the “China model” are not being considered.

Facts recently released by the Chinese government show that agriculture and not industry is the leading cause of pollution in that country. Over 30 million tonnes of agrochemicals are discharged into its waterways annually, with consequent impact on the environment and human health. At the same time, the intensive system of agriculture has resulted in acute water scarcity in north China.

If China is not the way to go, what then? Is it possible to evolve a purely indigenous model of agriculture that ensures access to food for all? Can the marginal farmers and landless labourers who comprise the bulk of our underfed population be part of the solution rather than the problem? Policymakers are so tuned into the industrial farming mindset that the idea of small-scale farmers producing enough food not only for their own needs but for the market is beyond their grasp. But if we are to meet the hunger challenge, we need to think out of the box.

(The writer is an activist of organic farming and senior journalist. She can be contacted at [email protected])

ShareTweetSendShareSend
Previous News

Thiruvonam a festival of harnest and harmony Significance of Ashtami Rohini Vallasadhya

Next News

Karyakari Mandal meeting of Kalyan Ashram President and Governors must exercise their powers for welfare of Vanvasis

Related News

That’s when I knew I wanted to do that too: Sachin Tendulkar reminisces over India’s triumph in 1983

That’s when I knew I wanted to do that too: Sachin Tendulkar reminisces over India’s triumph in 1983

Mayawati extends support to NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, slams Opposition’s casteist attitude

Mayawati extends support to NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, slams Opposition’s casteist attitude

Maharashtra crisis: 46 MLAs with us, we are Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sainiks, says Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra political crisis: Eknath Shinde calls meeting of rebel MLAs to discuss further strategy

4000-year-old copper weapons found in Uttar Pradesh’s Manipuri date back to the Mahabharata period?

4000-year-old copper weapons found in Uttar Pradesh’s Manipuri date back to the Mahabharata period?

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IMPLEMENTS REVISION OF ALLOWANCE FOR RISK AND HARDSHIPS FOR INDIAN NAVY PERSONNEL DEPLOYED AT SEA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IMPLEMENTS REVISION OF ALLOWANCE FOR RISK AND HARDSHIPS FOR INDIAN NAVY PERSONNEL DEPLOYED AT SEA

Anti-Hindu Narrative Rules Roost in West

Anti-Hindu Narrative Rules Roost in West

Comments

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Organiser. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.

Latest News

That’s when I knew I wanted to do that too: Sachin Tendulkar reminisces over India’s triumph in 1983

That’s when I knew I wanted to do that too: Sachin Tendulkar reminisces over India’s triumph in 1983

Mayawati extends support to NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, slams Opposition’s casteist attitude

Mayawati extends support to NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, slams Opposition’s casteist attitude

Maharashtra crisis: 46 MLAs with us, we are Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sainiks, says Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra political crisis: Eknath Shinde calls meeting of rebel MLAs to discuss further strategy

4000-year-old copper weapons found in Uttar Pradesh’s Manipuri date back to the Mahabharata period?

4000-year-old copper weapons found in Uttar Pradesh’s Manipuri date back to the Mahabharata period?

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IMPLEMENTS REVISION OF ALLOWANCE FOR RISK AND HARDSHIPS FOR INDIAN NAVY PERSONNEL DEPLOYED AT SEA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IMPLEMENTS REVISION OF ALLOWANCE FOR RISK AND HARDSHIPS FOR INDIAN NAVY PERSONNEL DEPLOYED AT SEA

Anti-Hindu Narrative Rules Roost in West

Anti-Hindu Narrative Rules Roost in West

‘Congress snatched Constitutional rights of every Indian overnight for power’: Amit Shah on 47 years of Emergency

‘Congress snatched Constitutional rights of every Indian overnight for power’: Amit Shah on 47 years of Emergency

How RSS fought Indira Gandhi’s Emergency

How RSS fought Indira Gandhi’s Emergency

US Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade, ends constitutional right to abortion; Protests erupt nationwide

US Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade, ends constitutional right to abortion; Protests erupt nationwide

Amit Shah hails SC verdict in Gujarat riot case, seeks apology from those who leveled politically motivated allegations

Amit Shah hails SC verdict in Gujarat riot case, seeks apology from those who leveled politically motivated allegations

  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Cookie Policy
  • Refund and Cancellation
  • Delivery and Shipping Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Business
  • RSS in News
  • Special Report
  • Sci & Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Books
  • Interviews
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Obituary
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Refund and Cancellation

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies