India's position on the food security front: A case of poverty in plenty

Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy contributing to nearly 14 per cent of the total GDP and 10 per cent of the total exports. The country is blessed with bountiful natural resources and diverse agro-climatic conditions. It has the second largest arable and the highest irrigated land in the world. It is amongst the top five countries in terms of area and production of major cereals, pulses, beverages and spices, fruit and vegetable crops, milk and other animal products. Way back in the 1960s the green revolution was introduced with an objective of achieving self-sufficiency in food grains. The introduction of HYV seeds of wheat and other grains combined with the use of plant protection chemicals and irrigation boosted the agricultural production. This was followed by a series of colour revolutions in the sector viz. blue, white, silver, pink, rainbow and so on with the latest being the evergreen revolution started in the 11^thplan. Unfortunately, even today Indian farmers are in distress and India is faced with chronic hunger and malnutrition. This calls for some serious deliberation for addressing the underlying issues in the sector. The key issue by far for Indian agriculture is increasing productivity. So far as India's agriculture sector is concerned there is a need to augment productivity by growing food in a sustainable way i. e. by adopting practices that produce more with less in the same area of land i. e. improving the resource use efficiency. It also means reducing food losses before the retail stage through a number of initiatives including better harvesting, storage, packing, transport, infrastructure, value addition as well as institutional and legal frameworks. Moreover, there is a need for measures such as price stabilization, incentives to farmers, agriculture diversification, effective supply chain management, food and nutritional safety as well as climate change research to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.