Study of food security in India

Abstract

One of the basic needs of man is food, to give this basic need to every citizen of a country in a just way is the true goal of achieving food security. In this report we methodically define the concept of food security, define and describe the different dimensions of food security, help understand the context of food security in India, analyze the present scenario of food security in India and conclude with recommendation relevant to the dimension of study. Among the four dimensions of food security we have choose to explore the dimension of food availability which relates to studying the production of food. The report elaborates the methodologies used for the study: the regression analysis and the correlation & Percentage growth analysis. The objectives of both these studies were to explore the ability of food production parameters to act as a safety net for ensuring food security of India. We have done a state level analysis due to reasons of contrasting characteristics between different regions of the country in terms of production, yield and other influential parameters. We have analyzed the state of different crops both food crops and commercial crops for seven states: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. We follow this with a section which captures the trends of different crops. The analysis reveals that production has significantly improved, but the growth rates are in the decline. Based on inputs from these analysis and literature we next try to understand the ongoing trend of coarse cereals which is declining rapidly, on a pan India level. We found that coarse cereals are losing out to high value crops. These findings call for action to get a sustainable agriculture practices in place. Then the report focuses on the various recommendations which can improve the state of food security in the country. The recommendations we suggest include: countering declining yield rates and productivity growth, development of supporting infrastructures, managing agricultural diversification, increase production of coarse cereals and promoting sustainability of staple crops. We conclude with the ways in which this study can be carried forward. This includes incorporation of reliable input costs, survey to understand the commercialization impact at a micro level and finer analysis of pre and post liberalization on agricultural sector