Food Insecurity and Second
Green Revolution
In
1798, Thomas Malthus published his famous and often quoted essay on population,
expressing concern about the human capacity to achieve a balance between population
growth and the rate of growth in food production when global population was
just about 930 million. The population of India alone now exceeds 990
million. There are growing apprehensions about the Malthusian prediction coming
true during the early decades of the 21st century.(Parod,1999).
The food security challenge has
become a lot more complex today than it was in the 1950’s urbanization,
globalization, private sector research and development on the one hand, and the persistence of poverty
and resource degradation on the other, have contributed to the growing
complexity of the problems. The target population for food security policy is
no longer for the rural poor, but it is increasingly urban based. The problem
of food security can no longer be
managed simply by manipulating domestic policies, it has to be seen within the context of global economic and trade
policy. The importance of macro-economic and trade policy reform in sustainable
food security cannot be under-estimated. Unless we get the macroeconomic and
trade policies right, sustainable food security over long term will continue to
be an elusive goal. The influence of WTO, in the new world order and ability of
a country to negotiate itself into a
favourable position in the international arena contributes as much to its food security as its ability to increase
domestic production through technological change. (Prabhu,2002).
Food security is not a problem of
increasing production. It is the problem of improving access, it is a problem
of equitable distribution, it is also a
problem of enhancing effective demand of the poorest of the poor for food. Food
security policy need not be anti-environment
rational food protection systems that improve the efficiency of input and
resource use, help conserve the natural resource base.
Significance of Second Green Revolution
The challenges for the scientists
and technologies would be in the areas of development of seeds that would
ensure good yield even under constraints of water and land with ecologically
balanced farming. The challenges for the scientist is indeed a knowledge graduation from characterization
of soil to the matching of the seed with the composition of the fertilizer,
water management and evolving new pre-harvesting techniques for such conditions. The domain of
farming would enlarge from grain production to food processing and marketing. Newer forms of
co-operative entities are required to be established for ensuring maximum
benefit to the farmers. E-marketing concepts may also be put into practice to
provide farmers’ choices in selling. Some of the areas which need focus are :
soil upgradation, dryland agriculture, temperature and salinity resistant seeds
and minimum water cultivation. Access to food will need enhanced of purchased
power of the rural and urban population. This can only come out of employment
generation through entrepreneurship and through increase in the incomes of
existing farmers by techniques adopted.
Agriculture farms the backbone of
the Indian economy. In India agriculture
contribute to the economic development by providing food for sustenance, raw
materials for industries and exports to earn valuable foreign exchange. Nearly
26 per cent of gross domestic product. Moreover, it creates employment
opportunities for the rural workers. Eighty per cent of the population live in
villages, with nearly 58.4 per cent (Census of India,2001) of them depending on
agriculture.. In spite of
industrialization, agriculture
still holds a place of pride in India . India is one of the important
developing countries where the role of agriculture is very crucial for
sustaining and promoting economic development, as a vast segment of its
population depends on it for its livelihood.
WTO Impact on Indian Food Sector
The WTO aims at improving the standard of living, employment and output and optimal utilization
of the world resources. It will ensure preservation of environment all over the
world. The thrust of its activities will be to secure better share of growth in
international trade, especially, for the least developed countries.
Though the economic reforms process
started in 1991, it hardly covered the agricultural sector. In agriculture, the
important state objective was to attain self-sufficiency in food which has
since been more than achieved. Indian agriculture was also sought to be
protected against external competition on the assumption that Indian
agriculture, largely being of subsistence nature, would not be able to
withstand competition from many developed countries where agriculture is
commercially run and is highly technology intensive. The protection from import
competition was essentially accorded by a strict regime of quantitative
restrictions operated through the export and import policy of the country.
The WTO regime had changed all these
parameters. The right to impose quantitative controls on agricultural imports was
drawn from Article 18-B of GATT under which a developing country fearing a
threat of deterioration in the balance of payments could impose direct controls
on imports which are otherwise prohibited under the WTO system. As a
consequence of increasing foreign exchange reserves of India , some
important trading partners felt that India should no longer enjoy the
Balance Of Payments (BOP) cover as it has done before. Since India did not
agree with that perception, the dispute went to the WTO’s dispute settlement
system which ruled against India .
As a result, quantitative restrictions on all imports, including agricultural
products, were removed with effect from April 2001.
Concerned with the possible
increase in imports due to the removal of the quantitative restrictions, the
Government of India has simultaneously imposed certain conditions which would
make import of agricultural products difficult. Import of bulk agricultural
commodities such as wheat, rice, maize, other coarse cereals, copra and coconut
oil has been placed in the category of state trading which implies that only
government nominated state trading enterprises will normally be allowed to
trade in these products further, import of a large number of food products will
have to comply with the domestic health standards and regulations. To ensure
that import of agricultural products do
not result in infiltration of foreign diseases and pests in India, import of
plants and products of animal origin has been subjected to sanitary and phytosanitary permits to be issued by the Ministry of
Agriculture. These are essentially efforts to provide continued protection to
Indian agriculture in the post WTO regime.
A comparison of the pre WTO
situation with the post WTO environment is necessary to appreciate the role
competitiveness will have to play in the survival of India ’s agriculture. In the GATT,
agriculture was kept out of the negotiations in trade liberalization. Most
important members of the GATT were more concerned with achieving
self-sufficiency in food to ensure food security for their own people and also
provide protection to agricultural farmers because of their strong political
clout than in liberalizing trade in
agriculture. (Bhattacharyya, 2002.)
The gap between potential and
present yields is high in most farming systems, even with the technologies
available on the self. High priority should hence go to bridging the
productivity gap through a mutually reinforcing blend of technologies, services
and public policies. Also, mainstreaming the nutritional dimension in the
design of cropping and farming systems is essential.
We should aim to achieve
revolutions in five areas to sustain and expand the gains already achieved.
These are:
·
Productivity revolution scope is great since average yields are still
low in most cropping and farming systems. However, the production techniques
should be environmentally sustainable, so that high yields can be obtained in
perpetuity.
·
Quality revolution can be achieved through greater attention to post harvest
technologies and bio-processing, as well as to sanitary measures.
·
Income and employment revolution will call for
an integrated attention to on-farm and non-farming livelihoods and to farming
systems intensification, diversification and value addition. Post harvest
processing offers scope for generating additional livelihoods through
micro-enterprises supported by micro-credit.
·
Small farm management revolution is
institutional structures which will confer upon farm families with small
holdings the advantages of scale at both the production and post-harvest phases
of agriculture are urgently needed. For
example, thanks to the cooperative method of organization of milk processing
and marketing, India
now occupies the first position in the world in milk production. Strategic
partnership with the private sector will help farmers’ organizations to have
access to assured and remunerative marketing opportunities. In relation to
factors of production, water is likely to become the key constraint during this
century. Hence every effort should be made to enhance productivity and income
per every drop of water. Now, only rice and wheat dominate the food scene.
For the first time in the history
of independent India ,
we have an uncommon opportunity to launch a total attack on hunger. Both the
huge grain stocks with government and the emergence of grassroots democratic
systems of governance represented by Gram Sabhas and Gram Panchayats provide
this uncommon opportunity. The Prime Minister of India which represents the 60th
anniversary of India ,
as the target date for achieving a hunger-free India . This will be possible if a
decentralized network of community food banks can be promoted. This will reduce
transaction and transparent and corruption-free mechanism to ensure that the
various entitlements for which provision is made in the budgets of the Union and State Governments reach the unreached.
(Swaminathan,2002.)
Dr.
APJ Abdul Kalam opined that Food Security
can be studied from three different view points. First, availability of food,
which depends upon production and distribution; second, access to food that is
guided by purchasing power; and third, food absorption. Food absorption implies
being able to assimilate the food consumed in order to live a healthy and long
life. This can come about with good sanitation facilities and better health
care infrastructure. For enhanced production and distribution, we have to
immediately launch the Second Green Revolution. He observed, our country had demonstrated
that food security is the foundation of our economic security, and economic
security leads to national security and other forms of social security like
health security and education and employment
opportunity, technology development, government policy making and
management. etc.
Ensuring
Food Security
Food security is a physical,
environmental, economic and social issue. It involves not just production, but
access; not just output but process; not just technology but policy; not just
global balance but also national conditions; not just national figures but
household realities; not just rural but urban consumption; and not just quantity of food but also quality.
·
The concept of food security should be broadened
to make it holistic so as to mean “every individual has the physical, economic
and environmental access to a balanced diet that includes the necessary macro
and micro nutrients and safe drinking water, sanitation, environment hygiene,
primary health care and education so as to lead
a healthy and productive life”.
·
Issues of food security are part of a bigger
whole. Sustainable land and water management must be seen as directly linked to
food security.
·
The major challenge is to produce additional
food while conserving depleting natural resources. It is also to provide
physical, economic and ecological access to food and nutrition security at the
household level.
·
Nutrition security must be given integrated
attention by emphasizing horticulture, animal husbandry, fishery, millets,
pulses and several other resources for which India is traditionally known. Food security must not be based on market, but
rather on self-reliance and sufficiency.
·
The elimination of hunger and malnutrition is
not just a food problem. It is linked to poverty and population growth. Rising
food output is essential but so are the slowing
of population growth and maintaining the ecological balance.
·
Food banks at grass root levels should be well
maintained.Identification of the vulnerable individuals and
families suffering from endemic hunger and malnutrition. Ensuring safe drinking water and environmental
hygiene. Strengthening food-based safety nets. Linking disaster mitigation with development. Assuring greater market access to form
products.
The Common Minimum Programme of the
new government at the Centre envisages extending the mid-day meal scheme to
whole country. The programme also lays considerable stress on improving the
country’s overall food and nutritional security status. For this purpose, it
vows to prepare a comprehensive medium-term strategy for food and nutrition
security. “The objective will be to move towards universal food security over
time, if found feasible,” the programme document states. (Surinder,2004.)
The food security equal involves
researchers, politicians, local communities and also multinational
corporations. Security is an issue of governance. Governance implies discipline
in various instruments of government like legislatures, executives and
judiciary. This discipline should imply objectivity and selflessness. It
requires transparency in working and honesty in transaction, development
without security is unthinkable. From
the angle of human development security
has many dimensions namely food security, social security, personal security,
and environmental security.
The top five policy challenges
that India faces over the next 20-25 years are (a) provisioning the urban
masses especially the urban poor with adequate amounts of food and nutrition,
(b) eliminating rural poverty and attacking the problem of chronic food
insecurity, (c) repositioning Indian agriculture in the context of
globalization, (d) dealing with rising transaction costs of technology access
and technology use, and (e) sustainably managing the natural resource base.
Over the past 50 years, the world has changed dramatically from one that was
predominantly a rural based world to one where almost half the population is living
in urban areas. today approximately 3 billion people live in urban areas. The
UN projections show that by the year, 2030, five billion people will be living
in urban areas as opposed to roughly three billion in rural areas. The growth
in urban populations is most evident when we look at the growth of the
mega-cities in the developing world. At the same time the locus of poverty is
changing dramatically over time and is going to change even more over the next
20 years. We find that the poorest of the poor are moving into urban areas,
expanding the urban slum populations in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkatta
etc.
Conclusion
Food security remains unrealized
dream if issues such as poverty and population growth are not dealt with effectively. The Green Revolution is one of the biggest
success stories in India
cited globally, which enabled the country to self-sufficiency. The green
revolution obviously, ushered to an era of overall rural prosperity. Its impact
was so dramatic, that India
became a role model to many developing nations. Despite these impressive achievements there
can be no complacency, especially in the view of emerging challenges of food
security, poverty, and natural resource management as a country enters the new
millennium. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical
and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
According
to APJ Abdul Kalam, the development of education and healthcare will yield the
benefits of smaller families and a more efficient workforce. It is the key to
employability and social development. Improvements in the agricultural sector,
including that of food processing, would lead to food security, employment
opportunities and rapid economic growth. Growth in the information technology
sector would assist rapid economic growth as well as play an important part in
speeding up development.
According to
Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, “Food Security has three components. The first is food
availability which depends on food protection and imports. The second is food
access, which depends on purchasing power. The third, food absorption, is a
function of safe drinking water, environmental hygiene, primary healthcare, and
education”.
Success
always has its cause and green revolution has been no exception. The
environmental and health impacts are due to the increased use of chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers,
through the green revolution. The indigenous land races have been replaced by
the new high yielding varieties. We are now facing with second generation
problems of the first green revolution such as depletion of soil nutrients and water resources, creation of
salinity, water logging, resurgence pests and diseases and increased
environmental pollution etc. The second green revolution conceived should be
able to put agriculture as well as agriculture related industry on fast track
to provide jobs with higher wages. The
second green revolution, and productivity improvements should come from sources
that are ecologically friendly. The government has to ensure that there is no
income loss to the farmers and it is compensated by the realization of
appropriate market price to these crops.
Simultaneous
improvement in education, technical improvement, health on the one hand, thrust
in agro processing industries on the other would provide next generation with
the jobs. The industrial growth would also pickup on the strength of rural income
growth. There is a need for investment in second green revolution from the public and private
sectors. Decentralized approach and sound planning are a must. Agro processing,
development of livestock sector and fisheries development would add job opportunities
in the short run. Second green revolution requires water conservation, massive
afforestation and improvement of
vegetative cover in the watersheds. Commercial exploitation of dense forests
are needs to be stopped. If mining is allowed
from private parties there will not be any forest left in India . In
future government should encourage Vermi Compost (organic fertilizers), and
green manure in place of chemical fertilizers to reduce the expenditure and
salinity of soil.
The production target of 360 millions of tonnes of food grains with increase in horticulture, life stock, and
fishing production will be adequate to meet the food and nutrition requirements
and make India
hunger free. From now on to 2020, India would have to gradually
increase the production to around 400 million tonnes of food grains. In order to overcome food security issue
there is a need to change the way
research has to be done to harness synergies between institutions,
development of networks to assess challenges and opportunities associated with
globalisation, technology revolutions in the fields of monocular biology, bio-technology, micro-biology,
system analysis, space science and revolution informatics etc.
Many food security schemes are being introduced
by the government strong in concept but weak in implementation. The problem of
food security is multifaceted. If population increases at present rate, it is
not only food security but problems of shelter will also arise. It is high time that people should extend
their co-operation with the government in population control. It requires
100 per cent literacy, scientific(Sri Vari), technical knowledge,
information technology in all walks of life. People should also change their
mind set to meet the need of the hour.
Reference
1). APJ Abdul Kalam(2004),
“Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas(PURA) in Action”,
Yojana, Vol 48, No. 4, April 2004,
New Delhi .
2). APJ Adbul Kalam (2002), Ignited
Minds, Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, New
Delhi .
3). Archana Sinha (2004), “Rural
Women in Dynamics of Agriculture & Food Security”,
Kurukshtra, Vol. 52, no. 9, July 2004. New Delhi .
4). Bhagyalakshmi. J (2004),
“Reducing Food Insecurity Through Grain Banks”, Yojana, Vol 48,
No. 4, April 2004, New Delhi .
5). Battacharayya. B (2002),
“Global Competitiveness of Indian Agriculture”. Yojana, Vol.:46,
January 2002, New Delhi .
6). Mathur. B.L.(2001), “WTO and
Indian Agriculture”, Association of Indian Management
Schools Institute of Transport Management
Vol :2, Andhra University Visakhapatnam .
7). Prabhu Pingali (2002), “Food
Security Challenge-Plagued by Complex Issues”, The Hindu
Survey of Indian Agriculture 2002,
Chennai.
8). Paroda R.S (1999), “For a
Food Secure Future”, The Hindu Survey
of Indian Agriculture
1999, Chennai.
9).Surinder Sud(2004), “Food
Availability and Revamped PDS”, Yojana, Vol.48,August 2004.
10). Surinder Sud (2004), “Issues
of Food Security”, Yojana, Vol
48, No. 4, April 2004, New
11). Swaminathan. M.S (2002),
“Food Security and Community Grain Banks”, Yojana, Vol 46,
January 2002, New Delhi .
12). Swarna Sadasivanm Vepa
(2004), “Second Green Revolution: A Catalyst For Rural Uplift”,
Yonana, Vol. 48, August 2004. New Delhi .
No comments:
Post a Comment