A Study on Assessment of Rural Household's Consumption Pattern in Different Arid Regions of India

The research study was conductedto assess the opportunities of rural households for ensuring food and nutritional security in different arid agro climatic regionsof India. The districts of Hassan (Hot arid ecoregion), Viluppuram (Hot semi-arid ecoregion), Banda (Hot sub humid ecoregion) and Churu (Hot arid ecoregion) was selected purposively for survey. This study found that, the food habit depends on arid agro ecosystem specificity, adoption of location specific nutritional rich varieties enhance productivity, promotion of locally available nutrition rich crops like drumsticks, guava, banana, millets and greens consumption supports food and nutritional security. The recent mass media penetration, particularly the television and internet based social medias are promoting and developing the knowledge about the health and nutrition aspects. Promotion of linkage and collaborations with agriculture, food, health, education, rural development programmesand potential nutrition policies also support food and nutrition security in different arid regions of India