Class IX – Food Security in India

Ans. It means availability, accessibility and affordability of food to all people at all times.

Ans. During a calamity, such as drought, total production decreases. It creates a shortage of food in the affected area. It further leads to rise in prices.

Ans. A famine is characterized by wide spread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use of contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from starvation.

Ans. The agricultural labourers, fishermen, transport workers and other casual labourers were affected most by dramatically increasing price of rice. They were the ones who died in the famine.

Ans. (i) Kalahandi and Kashipur in Orissa

(ii) Baran district of Rajasthan

(iii) Palamau district of Jharkhand

Ans. Indira Gandhi

Ans. Food Corporation of India

Ans. National Sample Survey Organisation

Ans. (i) Mid day meal

(ii) Integrated Child Development Services

(iii) Rural Wage Employment Programme

Ans. The dealers resort to malpractices like diverting the grain to open market to get better margin and sell poor quality grains at the ration shop.

Ans. (i) Mother Dairy is providing milk and vegetables to the consumers at the controlled rates decided by the government.

(ii) Amul is cooperatives in milk and milk products from Gujarat.

Ans. the price paid to the farmers at a pre-announced priced for their crops is known as Minimum Support Price.

Ans. Food security has following dimensions:

(a) Availability of food means food production within the country, food imports and the previous years stock stored in government granaries.

(b) Accessibility means food is within reach of every person.

(c) Affordability implies that an individual has enough money to buy sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet one’s dietary needs.

Ans. The food security is ensured in the following ways:

(a) Enough food is available for all the persons.

(b) All persons have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality.

(c) There is no barrier on access to food.

Ans. (a) If there is no food security in a country, the poorest section of the society might not get food most of the times.

(b) Others might too face problems in case of a national disaster or calamity like earthquake, drought, flood, tsunami, widespread failure of crops causing famine.

(c) In such situations, the production of food grains decreases leading to shortage of food in the affected areas.

(d) Thus, people do not get enough food and become food insecure. So, there should be food security to ensure that everyone may get two square meals a day.

Ans. (a) A famine is characterized by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics caused by forced use of contaminated water or decaying food and loss of body resistance due to weakening from starvation.

(b) (i) the famine of Bengal in 1943 killed thirty lakh people.

(ii) The agricultural labourers, fishermen, transport workers and other casual labourers were affected the most by dramatically increasing price of rice.

(iii) They were the ones who died in this famine.

Ans. (i) Due to a natural calamity say drought, total production of food grains decreases.

(ii) It creates a shortage of food in the affected areas.

(iii) Due to shortage of food, the prices go up.

(iv) At high prices, some people cannot afford to buy food.

(v) If such calamity happens in a very wide spread area or is stretched over a longer time period, it may cause a situation of starvation. A massive starvation might take a turn of famine.

Ans. (i) In Maharashtra, it has facilitated a network of NGOs for setting-up grain banks in different regions.

(ii) It organizes training and capacity building programmes on food security for NGOs.

(iii) ADS efforts to set up Grain Banks to facilitate replication through other NGOs and to influence the Government’s policy on food security are thus paying rich dividends. The ADS Grain Bank programme is acknowledged as a successful and innovative food security intervention.

Ans. Increased MSP is the result of pressure exerted by the leading food grain states of India.

Ans. Public Distribution System has been responsible for stabilizing the prices of food grains.

Ans. Revamped Public Distribution aimed at providing food grains to remote and backward areas.

Ans. Buffer stock of food grains is created by the government to distribute food grains among the poor.

Ans. The food insecure people are disproportionately distributed in some regions of India.

Ans. Famine is caused by use of contaminated water or food, which lead to widespread deaths.