Food Security in India Class 9 Economics NCERT Solutions & Notes

Ans: Food security in India is ensured by the government through a carefully designed system consisting of two main components:
1. Buffer Stock: The government procures foodgrains (wheat and rice) from farmers through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and stores them in granaries.
2. Public Distribution System (PDS): The stored food is distributed to the poorer strata of society through government-regulated ration shops at a subsidized price (Issue Price), which is lower than the market price.

Ans: People more prone to food insecurity include landless agricultural laborers, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers, and destitute individuals including beggars. Socially, people belonging to SCs, STs, and some sections of OBCs are highly vulnerable. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children under the age of five are also heavily affected by malnutrition.

Ans: The major problems include:
1. Ration shop dealers often divert the grains to the open market to sell them at higher margins, leading to shortages for the poor.
2. They sometimes sell poor quality grains at the ration shops.
3. Many ration shops open irregularly, making it difficult for the poor to buy their quota on time.
4. Huge stocks of foodgrains sometimes remain unsold and rot in FCI godowns while the poor starve.

Ans: Cooperatives play a significant role in food security, especially in southern and western India. For example, in Tamil Nadu, around 94% of fair price shops are run by cooperatives. Mother Dairy in Delhi provides milk and vegetables at controlled rates. Amul in Gujarat is another massive success story of cooperatives in milk and milk products, which brought about the White Revolution in the country.

Ans: We need food security because the poorest section of society might be food insecure most of the time. However, even people above the poverty line can face food insecurity during national disasters, calamities (like earthquakes, droughts, or floods), or widespread failure of crops, which can cause severe shortages and price hikes.

Ans: A famine is characterized by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use of contaminated water or decaying food. The most devastating famine in India was the Famine of Bengal in 1943, which killed over thirty lakh people in the province of Bengal.

Ans: Chronic hunger is a consequence of diets persistently inadequate in terms of quantity and quality. Poor people suffer from chronic hunger because of very low income. Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. It is prevalent in rural areas due to the seasonal nature of agricultural activities and in urban areas among casual labourers.

Ans: Buffer stock is the stock of foodgrains (namely wheat and rice) procured by the government through the Food Corporation of India (FCI). It is created to distribute these foodgrains in the deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price, and to resolve the problem of shortage during adverse weather conditions or disasters.

Ans: Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a pre-announced price by the government at which the Food Corporation of India (FCI) purchases wheat and rice from farmers in states with surplus production. It is declared every year before the sowing season to provide incentives to farmers for raising the production of these crops.

Ans: To ensure food accessibility to the poorer strata of society, the government distributes the foodgrains from the buffer stock through ration shops at a subsidized rate. This subsidized price, which is always lower than the open market price, is called the Issue Price.

Ans: The system through which the Food Corporation of India (FCI) distributes procured foodgrains to the poorer sections of society through government-regulated ration shops is called the Public Distribution System (PDS). These shops are also known as Fair Price Shops.

Ans: 1. Antyodaya cards for the poorest of the poor.
2. BPL cards for those below the poverty line.
3. APL cards for all others (Above Poverty Line).

Ans: Introduced in 1997, TPDS was designed to adopt the principle of targeting the 'poor in all areas'. It established a differential price policy: one subsidized price for BPL (Below Poverty Line) families, and another higher price for APL (Above Poverty Line) families, making the system more focused on those who truly need it.

Ans: Launched in December 2000, AAY is a scheme aimed at the "poorest of the poor" families identified within the BPL category. These families are provided 35 kg of foodgrains per month at highly subsidized rates of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice.

Ans: Since the advent of the Green Revolution in the early 1970s, India avoided famine even during adverse weather conditions. The introduction of HYV seeds vastly increased the production of wheat and rice, making India self-sufficient in foodgrains and allowing the government to build a massive buffer stock.

Ans: High MSPs have encouraged farmers, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, to divert land from producing coarse grains (which are consumed by the poor) to producing water-intensive wheat and rice. This has caused a decline in the water table, soil degradation, and an imbalance in agricultural production.

Ans: The Annapurna Scheme was launched to provide food security to indigent senior citizens (destitute elders) who are eligible for the National Old Age Pension but are not receiving it. Under this scheme, 10 kg of foodgrains are provided free of cost per month to the eligible elderly.

Ans: A subsidy is a payment that a government makes to a producer to supplement the market price of a commodity. Subsidies can keep consumer prices low while ensuring that producers receive a higher income, serving as a critical tool in maintaining affordability in food security.

Ans: Fair Price Shops (Ration Shops) keep stock of foodgrains, sugar, and kerosene oil. These items are sold to people at a price lower than the market rate. Any family with a ration card can buy a stipulated amount of these items (e.g., 35 kg of grains, 5 litres of kerosene, 5 kg of sugar) every month from the nearby shop.