Write a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related items.
[question] Question. Write a note on the role of cooperatives in providing food and related items. [/question] [solution] Solution: Along with the government, cooperatives are also playing an important role in ensuring food security in India, especially in the southern and western parts of the country. The cooperative societies set up shops to sell low-priced goods to the poor. Out of all fair-price shops running in Tamil Nadu, around 94 per cent are being run by cooperatives. Mother Dairy, in D...
What are the problems of the functioning of ration shops?
[question] Question. What are the problems of the functioning of ration shops? [/question] [solution] Solution: The public distribution system (PDS) is the most important step taken by the Indian government towards ensuring food security. However, there have been several problems related to the functioning of ration shops. The food grains supplied by the ration shops are not enough to meet the consumption needs of the poor. As a result, they have to depend on markets instead. The average all-Ind...
Write notes on:
[question] Question. Write notes on: (a) Minimum support price (b) Buffer stock (c) Issue price (d) Fair-price shops [/question] [solution] Solution: (a) Minimum support price − It is the pre-announced price at which the government purchases food grains from the farmers in order to create a buffer stock. The minimum support price is declared by the government every year before the growing season. This provides incentives to the farmers for raising the production of the crops. The rising minimum ...
Why is a buffer stock created by the government?
[question] Question. Why is a buffer stock created by the government? [/question] [solution] Solution: A buffer stock of food grains is created by the government so as to distribute the procured food grains in the food-deficit areas and among the poorer strata of society at a price lower than the market price. A buffer stock helps resolve the problem of shortage of food during adverse weather conditions or during periods of calamity. [/solution]...
What has our government done to provide food security to the poor?
[question] Question. What has our government done to provide food security to the poor? Discuss any two schemes launched by the government? [/question] [solution] Solution: The government has ensured the availability of food grains with the help of a carefully-designed food-security system. This system involves the maintenance of a buffer stock of food grains, and the distribution of this food among the poorer sections of the society with the help of a public distribution system. The government ...
Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger.
[question] Question. Differentiate between seasonal hunger and chronic hunger. [/question] [solution] Solution: Seasonal hunger is related to cycles of food growing and harvesting. This is prevalent in rural areas because of the seasonal nature of agricultural activities, and in urban areas because of the casual labour (e.g., there is less work for casual construction labour during the rainy season). This type of hunger exists when a person is unable to get work for the entire year. Chronic hung...
What happens to the supply of food when there is a disaster or a calamity?
[question] Question. What happens to the supply of food when there is a disaster or a calamity? [/question] [solution] Solution: When there is a disaster or a calamity, the production of food grains decreases in the affected area. This in turn creates a shortage of food in the area. Due to the food shortage, the prices go up. The raised prices of food materials affect the capacity of many people to buy the same. When the calamity occurs in a very wide spread area or is stretched over a long peri...
A section of people in India are still without food
[question] Question. A section of people in India are still without food. Explain. [/question] [solution] Solution: The food insecure: A large section of people in India suffer from food and nutrition insecurity. This group of ‘the food insecure’ includes landless agricultural labourers and small farmers, casual labourers in the urban areas, people belonging to the backward social sections such as the SCs, STs and OBCs, people belonging to the backward regions, migrants and a large proportion of...
Do you believe that Green Revolution has made India self-sufficient in food grains?
[question] Question. Do you believe that Green Revolution has made India self-sufficient in food grains? How? [/question] [solution] Solution: In the late 1960s, the Green Revolution introduced the Indian farmer to the cultivation of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds. The HYVs (coupled with chemical fertilisers and pesticides) led to a growth in the productivity of food grains (especially wheat and rice), thereby helping India attain self-sufficiency in food grains. Since the advent of the...
Which states are more food insecure in India?
[question] Question. Which states are more food insecure in India? [/question] [solution] Solution: The economically-backward states with high incidence of poverty are more food insecure in India. The states of Uttar Pradesh (eastern and south-eastern parts), Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chattisgarh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra account for the largest number of food insecure people in the country. [/solution]...
Which are the people more prone to food insecurity?
[question] Question. Which are the people more prone to food insecurity? [/question] [solution] Solution: A large section of people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity in India. However, the worst affected groups are as follows: (i) Landless and land-poor households, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers and destitute including beggars (in the rural areas) (ii) People employed in ill-paid occupations and casual labourers engaged in seasonal ac...
How is food security ensured in India?
[question] Question. How is food security ensured in India? [/question] [solution] Solution: Food security is ensured in a country when the three dimensions of food security are taken care of. The three dimensions are: Availability of food − Presence of enough food for all the persons Accessibility of food − Absence of barrier on access to food Affordability of food − Capability of all persons to buy food of acceptable quality Food security has been ensured in India because of the following fact...