1Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Government of India, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi-110001, India.
2Division of Agricultural Economics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India.
*Excerpted version of the paper presented for the Study Week on Food Needs of the Developing World in the Early Twenty-First Century (January 27–30, 1999) Vatican City. Organised by Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican City.
This paper provides information for the countries in South Asia region on the current situation and trends in food production, food consumption pattern and nutritional status of the household, projects the household and domestic demand for food grains, livestock, fisheries and horticultural products between the years 2000 and 2030, and fixes yield and production targets to maintain the self-reliance of different countries, and suggests the strategies for enhancing food production. The analysis reveals that public investment in infrastructure, research and extension during the Green Revolution period, have significantly helped to expand food production and diversified the consumers' food basket. Food demand challenges ahead are formidable considering the non-availability of favourable factors of past growth, declining factor productivity in major cropping systems and rapidly shrinking resource base. It however appears that vast agricultural production potential still remains highly under-realized. The paper suggests the production enhancing strategies.
