4 min readGandhinagarMar 17, 2023 03:18 AM IST
First published on: Mar 16, 2023 at 04:40 PM IST
Despite India doubling its per capita food production in the last 50 years, cases of malnutrition and anaemia continue to stagnate, said Professor Ramesh Chand, NITI Aayog member, while addressing the 49th Dairy Industry Conference at Gandhinagar Thursday.
“In 50 years between 1971 and 2021, the per capita aggregate food production — a sum of nine food items, including cereals, edible oil, pulses, milk, meat, fish, egg, sugar — in India almost doubled. In 1971, India was producing one kilogram of food per person per day. But now we are producing two kilogram of food per person per day. We are not consuming all of it and a significant portion of it goes to exports. What is more impressive is that this growth rate in the recent years, particularly after 2005-06, has accelerated further,” Chand said while delivering the Dr Kurien Memorial Oration at the conference.
Chand said despite the high growth in per capita food production, burning issues like malnutrition and anaemia among women have not been addressed. Citing Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) data, he said, “In 1979-80, about 38 per cent of the population of India was found to be undernourished or hungry. Five years ago, that percentage had come down to 16 per cent. However, it has remained stuck at the same place in the succeeding five years.”
“As much as 50 per cent of women in the states that saw the green revolution are anaemic. We need to analyse why we are not able to make further improvements in nutrition. Why are we not able to reduce anaemia if our growth rate in food production is like this,” he added.
Suggesting that emphasis should be on providing options like dairy, pulses, eggs and fishes to improve nutrition, Chand said, “Right now the growth rate of cereals is two per cent but even if there was five per cent growth, there is no possibility of improving India’s nutrition through that growth. Reason is simple. Preference of the people to consume cereals is declining.”
He added, “Even after we gave 40 per cent of the cereal supply to two-third of the country, the per cent of undernourished population is not improving. So, if we want to improve nutrition, we will have to provide food items that people would want to consume. We need to put more emphasis on items like dairy, pulses, fruits and vegetables, eggs and fish.”
Contribution of White revolution more than Green revolution
Breaking down India’s agriculture growth into different segments, Chand said, “If the growth in agriculture is looked at for the last 50 years, the share of green revolution (progress in cereals), is 13.23 per cent. But if you look at the contribution of milk, then it is 25 per cent. So, the contribution of white revolution is double that of the green revolution in the growth of agriculture.”
“Contribution of poultry to the total growth of Indian agriculture in the last 50 years is as high as the contribution of wheat which is the top crop. The contribution of poultry is 6.3 per cent. Similarly, the contribution of fisheries — which is 7.8 per cent — to this growth process is higher than the contribution of any single crop.”
“This differential rate of growth has changed the total picture of agriculture. The share of the crop sector is shrinking, while the shares of livestock and dairy are increasing in a big way. These changes point to a clear trend of diversification which has happened in agriculture,” Chand said adding that the diversification would have been higher had the government not provided support or subsidies to the crop sector.
"As much as 50 per cent of women in the states that saw the green revolution are anaemic," said Ramesh Chand.(Photo: Twitter/@Ramesh_ChandDr) 
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